iTunes University

iTunes University is a new site created by Apple. It is a site that allows college and university faculty to upload classroom and lecture material to their school's assigned iTunes site. Registered students can then use their iPods to download the audio and then they have that information to use as a guide when studying for exams or doing homework. It is basically a more modern version of using taperecorders in class.
If I were a teacher I do think this would be a pretty helpful teaching tool. It would save a lot of lecture time and ensure that every student would have access to the classroom material even if they missed a lecture or two.

iTune U website

Ipods/ Duke University

Ipods, believe it or not, are quickly becoming an important tool for higher learning. Duke University has recently been allowing their students to use their Ipods and are calling it their Fall 07 iPod project. According to the Duke Digital Initiative webpage, "Handheld devices can be used to record student discussion sessions or tutoring sessions, and use podcasts to share comments and summaries to discussions. This function can be used for various subjects, e.g. Education, Writing, Philosophy, Information Science, etc."
The Duke website also states, "Duke University provides recordings of textbook materials, journals, songs, music, vocabulary, novels, stories, poems, radio programs, subscribed podcasts distributed by media source, oral history interviews, authentic speeches by notable figures, congressional debates, etc. These listening materials can be widely used for subjects such as Foreign Languages, History, Politics, Writing, Arts, Music." Students have written comments that the new iPod policy has greatly helped in their studies.
As for me personally I don't know if I'm such a big fan of the iPod in the classroom idea. I'm sure it is a great tool for recording audio and lecture but at the same time I think it could become a big distraction to the students. Students could become tempted to just listen to music or play games rather than listen to lecture. I'm not sure if I would be thrilled with the idea if I had my own classroom.

Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert is a man who has contributed so much in the ways of online learning and teaching. He studied under Jean Piaget and is a research associate and director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. He is one of the main creators of Logo which is an online learning agent. Papert also co-founded the Logo Foundation which sets out to increase knowledge and learning in children.

Papert wrote two books, "Mindstorms:Children Computers and Powerful Ideas" and "The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer" which are all about children using technology to aid learning. Besides these two books, Papert has also written many articles and journals in his many different fields. The most helpful website that I found was: http://www.papert.org/

International Blogging

The first school I found is Westhoughton High School in the UK. Both the students and teachers at Westhoughton use blogs to communicate with eachother and also to keep their work organized. There is a master blog and the students and teachers each one.
http://www.westhoughton-high.bolton.sch.uk/departments/designtechnology/designtechnology.php#links



The next school I found that regularly uses blogs is Hope CE Primary School in Shropshire. This school uses the blog as more of a communication tool rather than for educational purposes, although they do use it for that too. The master blog has blogging rules displayed that when followed will protect those who blog. This is their website:
http://hopeblog.ethink.org.uk/our-blog-rules/

Disney World

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