--- Forwarded Message from "Thea Rusthoven" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>From: "Thea Rusthoven" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum"
<[log in to unmask]>
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #7586.7 iPods instead of audio consoles (!)
>Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 10:28:10 -0700

Is one of the reasons you don't use iPods more extensively is that they
cannot properly replace the microphone/headset in the traditional set-up?
Do students need the microphone in order to hear themselves properly?  If
not, why not just go with individual i-pods?  --and they could speak loudly
somewhere in private.

Also, iPods would not work for a text like French in Action which has CDs
which may only be used in a lab.

Thea van Til Rusthoven, Ph.D.
Redeemer University College
Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
----- Original Message -----
From: "LLTI-Editor" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: #7586.7 iPods instead of audio consoles (!)


> As to theft: we make students sign a contract that spells out that the
college
> will bill them at market value for the lost iPod.
>
> As to the iPod filling station: We use an older G4 tower ( a slow one!)
that
> contains MP3 versions of all of our .mov files from the streaming audio
server.
> The organization of the files represents more or less the organization of
the
> streaming server, i.e. a hierarchy of language/textbook, chapter, exercise
> number, etc. The files are visible in an iTunes interface with the
playlists. We
> take an iPod and synchronize it to a particular language or a particular
> textbook. All this is done within iTunes.
>
> As to usage: usage has not been as high as expected for reasons stated
before.
> Most of our users request iPods for athletic trips, weekend trips, etc. A
> minority checks iPods out for a ouple of weeks at a time - these are often
users
> who do not have highspeed internet connection and live off campus.
>
> There is also another aspect to usage here and that is the fact that
language
> courses here are very intensive  in quarter terms and faculty sticks as
much as
> possible to a very tight syllabus. So the iPods go to the unexpected, like
the
> business school student who wants to brush up on Chinese or the medical
student
> who wants to brush up on Spanish.
>
> Otmar Foelsche
>