E-Media Tidbits

So, do iPods really improve academic life and performance? That was the question that Duke University's Center for Instructional Technology tracked over the past academic year after distributing the popular digital-music players to all of its 1,650 incoming freshmen -- much to the envy of students everywhere (and probably quite a few Blue Devil upperclassmen, too). According to a story in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required), Brock Read reports that the project had limited instructional merit.

The university's report revealed that 75 percent of the freshmen surveyed said they used their iPods for either in-class activities or independent work in at least one course. Almost 50 courses, with a total enrollment of 1,200 students, made some use of the technology.

What was the most popular use? Predictably, recording lectures, interviews, or other course-related material. Each recipient was provided with a voice-recording add-on with their iPod, and 60 percent of the students said they had used it for a class. Only 28 percent of the students used the iPods as storage devices, partially because some copyright owners would not extend licensing agreements to download course materials, according to the report.

Faculty members liked the iPod's convenience, portability, and ease of use, but some professors said the devices served only a small range of purposes. The school already has said it will scale back on its iPod giveaway in the fall, only handing them out to students who enroll in courses that put them to substantial use. That means that instructors must find ways to effectively build iPods into the curriculum.

Just because something is cool and new, it doesn't mean that learning the old-fashioned way -- listening and taking notes by hand -- has as yet been surpassed.