Course Name

Using the Power of the iPod in Education: An Overview

Contact Hours: 10

Course Description

Schools are evolving in educational goals and are using increasingly powerful tools to improve the education that they are providing to their students. At almost every level, educators today are investigating the tools that they have at their disposal to transform their educational goals in order to more effectively achieve the 21st century skills that their students need in order to succeed in their schooling and after they graduate in their working and civic lives. One powerful tool is the compact iPod that has many features that can be taken advantage of by teachers and students due to its portability, and powerful audio/video (and other) features. is a seven-day online course. In this course, teachers will learn why and how the iPod can improve the education that they are offering to their students. They will learn the pedagogical advantages that can be offered as well as the theoretical underpinnings of these important benefits. In addition, the teachers will be provided with practical examples of how the iPod has been and can be used to improve education and will be provided with explanations of how to use the iPod, iTunes, podcasts and other sources in accomplishing these objectives, along with the theoretical underpinnings of why these elements and techniques willl improve the education that is offered to students. This course is designed for teachers and course developers at any level, as well as for online course developers.

Outcome

The basic goals of this course will be as follows: To be introduced to the iPod as applied to education and to gain an understanding of how it can be used to improve your teaching practices. To learn the educational advantages of the iPod for independent learning and accessibility; differentiated learning; and increased efficiencies in learning time. To learn some practical ways that you can use the iPod to increase your teaching effectiveness and the media literacy of your students and to examine why the iPod is so effective in increasing learning gains by appealing to cognitive learning theory. To examine how communication gains, language skills, creativity, and so on can be improved in students by having them create their own multimedia productions and student portfolios. To become familiar with what podcasts are and how they can be used effectively in the classroom.

Assessment

You will be able to work through five units and the final portfolio project of this course on your own. Each unit will consist of a lesson, followed by a self-exercise to apply and synthesize the skills that you have learned in the unit, followed by a multiple choice test on the unit. The course will culminate in a final portfolio project that will allow you to tie everything you have learned together into a portfolio that you will be able to use as a very handy and powerful reference for your future work with the iPod in education. The course grade will be determined by the five unit tests.

Outline

In this course, you will learn the following:           UNIT 1 Learn what the iPod is and how it is used. Gain a basic understanding of how the iPod can be used in education. Investigate some examples of how the iPod, audio recordings, and podcasts can be used in education. UNIT 2 Learn how the iPod can increase the accessibility of students to education. Gain an understanding of how independent learning and collaboration can be fostered through the use of the iPod. Investigate how the iPod can be used for differentiated learning. Examine how the iPod can improve the efficiency of in-class learning time through its ability to manage time and learning sequences. UNIT 3 Learn some practical ways that the iPod can be used to improve your teaching effectiveness. Investigate why the multimedia content of the iPod is so effective in the teaching-learning process by referring to cognitive theory. Learn some important teaching tips that you can use to improve the teaching-learning process using the iPod. Analyze how you can improve the media literacy of your students by using the iPod. UNIT 4 Learn why learning gains can be achieved by having students create their own multimedia productions by using tools such as iPods and iLife programs, making them content creators rather than just content consumers.  Investigate important techniques that can be used to foster these learning gains. Examine why portfolio content creation with iPods is important. Learn how and why student communication skills, language skills and so forth, can be improved through the utilization of multimedia production techniques. UNIT 5 Learn what podcasting is and what is involved in this technology and practice. Examine the pedagogical advantages that can be obtained by using podcasting in education. Analyze important design considerations in podcasting.