Week 6: Dr, Alice Christie, ITunes University, and IPod Instruction

Dr. Alice Christie's Website

Dr. Alice Christie is a professor at Arizona State University with a Ph.D in Educational Technology and Language and Literacy. Her website http://www.alicechristie.org offers a vast array of resources for teachers and students to access in terms of educational media. I searched through Dr. Christie's site and began by watching a video entitled "We are all co-learners." The video does a good job of presenting what I feel is probably the most important aspect of being a successful teacher: creating a community of life-long learners. Dr. Christie explains that it is key for teachers to be open to learning about technology from a myriad of sources, including students. She also stresses the importance and value of sharing knowledge throughout the world via the information super highway.

I was very interested also by a link on Dr. Christie's site called Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com/). This site allows people to catalog books that they have read and enjoyed, and allows connections to others who have similar literary interests. As a future English teacher I find it amazing that it is possible to connect with others and learn about new books and literature. I know I can definitely use this in the future in my own classroom. I think students would really like a website like this because they can find more and more literature that they will enjoy, thus making them better students. One of the hardest battles that English teachers face is keeping their students interested, and many of the ideas Dr. Christie explores with technology is a great way to keep students engaged and interested because technology is an everyday part of the lives of 21st century students.

ITunes University

ITunes University is an Apple application that is designed for Professors to distribute lessons and information via ITunes. This is an exciting proposition because it is a fact that students everywhere in today's society are using IPods, IPhones, and personal laptops everyday of their lives. Why shouldn't educators capitalize on this as well? ITunes U makes learning a mobile task; students can watch and listen to lectures while they are doing just about anything from riding a bus to sitting at their favorite local coffee shop. They can also learn at their own pace, whenever and wherever they desire.

I definitely feel like this could be an application I could one day use in my own classroom. Students today can become very easily bored, and they do not like waiting long amounts of time to find information. ITunes U caters to the way students these days are accustomed to living, therefore they are much more likely to be learning. ITunes U seems like a great way to disassociate the world of academia from the tedious nature that so many students correlate it to. I think that once students understand that learning really is a fun and exciting task, they are going to be much more receptive to instruction.

IPods in the Classroom

IPods are everywhere. It seems like everybody and their grandmother own one today. Not surprisingly, teachers have begun to examine the IPod's potential use in the classroom. Duke University is on the cutting edge of IPod use as part of their student's learning. In 2004 Duke issued IPods to over 1600 first year college students. The University found that IPods were a convenient tool for both professors and students, the location of actual learning became very flexible, and that students were much more engaged in class discussion and curriculum. All of this is very positive.

http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf details the specifics of the results of the IPod initiative at Duke. Being that this University was one of the first to explore this technology as part of its academic programs, there were some problems. Some faculty had difficulty locating materials they needed for their lectures and lessons, students also found finding and buying materials from ITunes to be cumbersome. All in all however, the program seems to have been a success, and a model for educators everywhere. I feel as though the IPod could one day be a powerful ally for me as an educator. I want my students to enjoy learning, not dread it. IPods and education may definitely be a winning combination.