Fade to Play

During my undergrad I learned German. In addition to the textbook, there was a CD with German on it to supplement the lessons (I had a CD walkman) and I spent many hours in the lab doing tests and watching Deutsche-Welle TV. I also bought a shortwave radio so that I could listen to Deutsche-Welle radio through shortwave.

While at UBC I have audited German in order to keep up with my comprehension. I supplemented my learning by listening Deutsche-Welle online or n-tv. I wonder how my experience would have been different had I had lessons for an iPod.

This article in the Globe and Mail by Madlen Read (Associated Press) discusses how mp3s/iPods are being utilised in educational settings.

Whetstone, 18, and Zollos, 17, are students in Kathy O’Connor’s class at Tidewater Community College in Southeastern Virginia. O’Connor got an $11,000 grant from the school to lend her students iPods so they can practice their Spanish conversations anywhere — not just sitting in front of a computer.

“I get a lot more listening in than I did before,” said Whetstone, who estimates that it’s increased from about 30 minutes a week to 4 or 5 hours.

Students are using MP3 players to listen to downloaded books, textbook study guides and language labs on-the-go. Books and personal stereos have always been portable, of course, but audio books are easier to carry around in MP3 form. A typical 300-page novel might take up 12 CDs, but only a tiny portion of an MP3 player’s memory and prices for audiobook downloads are mostly comparable to audio CDs.

Relevance: There is continual diversity amongst educators among those that see mobile devices for their value as educational tools (e.g. lectures as podcasts) and those that see them as distractions from one’s education (e.g. banning ipods or laptops on school grounds).