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Almost 20 percent of young people in America have an iPod or MP3 player. And while many parents assume the devices are solely for playing music, ambitious teens can also use them for learning.

Rachel Hodge, a sophomore at Georgia College and State University, is recording herself speaking Spanish into her iPod – for homework.

Her teacher will then grade her pronunciation.

“It’s helped me,” she says, “because I can record myself, and then I can play it back and listen to it. So if I hear some of my diction isn’t right or the pronunciation isn’t correct, I can go back and re-record it – and I don’t have to save the old stuff. So it’s pretty convenient.”

College senior Faith Robinson uses her iPod to download Spanish lessons. She then plays her lessons on the way to class. “Right now I’m listening to Edition 4, Spanish slang,” she says.

Poetry, books on tape, SAT prep classes — educators say students can find all sorts of valuable educational materials for their MP3 players.

One popular choice is foreign language lessons.

“So it’s something that becomes part of their everyday life, very similar to walking down the street with somebody and talking in Spanish,” says Jim Wolfgang, Chief Information Officer at Georgia College and State University.

The school currently has 40 different projects where students use iPods as part of their coursework.

“You can go to the gym and walk on the treadmill and listen to it,” says Amy Bergman, a graduate student at the college. “So, I mean, you could exercise and do your homework at the same time.”

“But I would have to kind of motivate or push myself to listen to [the lessons], because sometimes I’d rather listen to music,” admits Faith.

While kids use iPods mostly for music, educators say parents should encourage them to try at least some of the available educational content.

“Like everything else, parents need to be cautious,” says Wolfgang, “because besides having a lot of good material out there, there’s a lot of junk material out there as well.”

He says the iTunes music store, NASA, and all the major news networks provide downloadable material for free.

Educators say lessons on MP3 players are not meant to replace classes or homework. “I think there always will be the need for the books and the lectures and the classrooms, and the classroom material,” says Wolfgang. “And that’s where our secret comes in. This is supplemental to that.”

In other iPod projects at Georgia College and State University, students use their MP3 players to record interviews for original research projects.

Amy Bergman, a graduate student in education, used her iPod to interview third graders about what qualities they like in a teacher. “

“The great thing about the iPods was that it captures their tone, it captures the emotion behind their voice,” she says, “and I didn’t have to be distracted with writing down every little word or abbreviating things.”

And a history professor at Amy’s college has students download movies to their video-capable iPods, so they don’t waste class-time screening the films.

What We Need To Know

• An MP3 player is a device that allows people to download and play music from the Internet. The device is smaller than a personal CD player, so it is very portable. People often walk around listening to music on their MP3 players with a pair of headphones. You need a computer to download songs. MP3 is just the name of the computer audio file. Apple’s iPod is the most recognizable brand name. (British Council)
• Besides music, people can download “pod casts” onto their MP3 players. “Pod casts” are audio files that often resemble talk radio. The content and quality can vary significantly. It can be as simple as people recording themselves speaking at home, uploading it to a website, and making it available for others to download. Some reputable organizations also make audio files available. For example, university professors often make their lectures available for students to download. All of the major networks offer newscasts with the day’s current events for free. And NASA offers material on science-related topics. (Jim Wolfgang, Chief Information Officer, Georgia College and State University)
• Language lessons, SAT prep courses, and books on tape are just some of educational content available from both free and commercial websites. (Jim Wolfgang, Chief Information Officer, Georgia College and State University)
• The iTunes Music store offers an entire section of educational material for free. Apple monitors the content. (Jim Wolfgang, Chief Information Officer, Georgia College and State University)

Resources

• Apple iTunes Music Store
• Georgia College and State University

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