An iPod Classroom?
Journal #3
Podcasts are a wonderful invention.
But how to they work? Simple. Let's say there is a businessman, let's name him Edward. Anyways, Edward is a very busy man, as he goes to and from work by public transportation everyday. Since he works in the city, he has to travel a long way from home. Edward goes to work early and comes home late. Because Edward's work pretty much dominates his life, he has no time to keep up to date with the current news. Also, he doesn't like newspapers because they take up too much space on the subway and they're too messy. One day, Edward decides to buy a video iPod. With iTunes, Edward can subscribe to the news' podcasts; whenever he attaches his iPod to his computer, it synchronizes with iTunes and the program automatically downloads a short video or audio clip into Edward's iPod, which contains the precious daily news which Edward desires to watch on the way to work and on the way back. (Also, he can listen to his music after watching/listening to the news too, by the way!)
Isn't that neat? Why yes, it is.
Anyways, there are many other uses for podcasts other than just listening to the news; they have proven themselves useful in the academic world as well. If students could download lessons to their mp3 players off a school website then they could listen to them on the go as study aids or in order to avoid having to carry heavy books. A student could simply attach their iPod to their computer everyday to automatically receive new lessons or updates. I'm not all for completely being dependent on iPods and mp3 players, but I believe that because of podcasts, they are a potential learning aid. I think that the notion of an iPod classroom isn't really necessary, as technology is meant to make our lives better/easier, not control it completely.
Although, we have to remember that even though iPods are becoming more common, not all of us will have access to one, as they're still expensive and weren't necessarily created for academic purposes.
I'd like to pause for a moment to remind you readers the kind of school we go to. We go to Mary Ward, a center for self-directed learning. "V-casting" is said to promote independent study, the type of study which is the entire Mary Ward program. I think that v-casting would go hand-in-hand with our school, don't you think? The full potential of v-casting could be brought out in seminars, one of the most important factors of our school. Wouldn't be so convenient simply to have seminar v-casts, where students could listen to seminars that they have missed, or would've loved to hear again? Although it would help to have seminar v-casts, students could take advantage of that in a negative way and find an excuse never to come to class or interact with their teachers.
So...
Podcasts + Mary Ward = Good
or
Podcasts + Mary Ward = Bad
You decide.
Podcasts are a wonderful invention.
But how to they work? Simple. Let's say there is a businessman, let's name him Edward. Anyways, Edward is a very busy man, as he goes to and from work by public transportation everyday. Since he works in the city, he has to travel a long way from home. Edward goes to work early and comes home late. Because Edward's work pretty much dominates his life, he has no time to keep up to date with the current news. Also, he doesn't like newspapers because they take up too much space on the subway and they're too messy. One day, Edward decides to buy a video iPod. With iTunes, Edward can subscribe to the news' podcasts; whenever he attaches his iPod to his computer, it synchronizes with iTunes and the program automatically downloads a short video or audio clip into Edward's iPod, which contains the precious daily news which Edward desires to watch on the way to work and on the way back. (Also, he can listen to his music after watching/listening to the news too, by the way!)
Isn't that neat? Why yes, it is.
Anyways, there are many other uses for podcasts other than just listening to the news; they have proven themselves useful in the academic world as well. If students could download lessons to their mp3 players off a school website then they could listen to them on the go as study aids or in order to avoid having to carry heavy books. A student could simply attach their iPod to their computer everyday to automatically receive new lessons or updates. I'm not all for completely being dependent on iPods and mp3 players, but I believe that because of podcasts, they are a potential learning aid. I think that the notion of an iPod classroom isn't really necessary, as technology is meant to make our lives better/easier, not control it completely.
Although, we have to remember that even though iPods are becoming more common, not all of us will have access to one, as they're still expensive and weren't necessarily created for academic purposes.
I'd like to pause for a moment to remind you readers the kind of school we go to. We go to Mary Ward, a center for self-directed learning. "V-casting" is said to promote independent study, the type of study which is the entire Mary Ward program. I think that v-casting would go hand-in-hand with our school, don't you think? The full potential of v-casting could be brought out in seminars, one of the most important factors of our school. Wouldn't be so convenient simply to have seminar v-casts, where students could listen to seminars that they have missed, or would've loved to hear again? Although it would help to have seminar v-casts, students could take advantage of that in a negative way and find an excuse never to come to class or interact with their teachers.
So...
Podcasts + Mary Ward = Good
or
Podcasts + Mary Ward = Bad
You decide.
posted by Aude Sepere at 11:18 AM
1 Comments:
First of all, I love your page!!! NICE!!! Second of all, your blog is so true. I like how you used a story about Edward to help prove your point about podcasts. I think that podcasts would be very useful at Mary Ward. I myself, have missed a lot of seminars and it would be nice to listen to missed seminars using v-casting. So, yes I think podcasts + Mary Ward = Good!!
Post a Comment
<< Home