Are all mp3 Players Alike???

So one of the teachers in my department who just got 10 mp3 players (SanDisk Sansa players, to be exact) to use with her AP class. Most of the "wonderful" ideas that I have involve at MINIMUM a textual component, which this player does not have. I know that it won't do pictures, but I don't think that it will do text, either. So.....Are all players created equal? I'm thinking not. If that is the case, did we just purchase *gasp* - dare I say it - expensive tape recorders? Thoughts?

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iPods, Random

MACUL Handheld Conference

So, I just got back from the MACUL Handheld Conference in Ann Arbor, MI. It was a very interesting conference filled with many good ideas. If you attended my session called "Beyond Podcasting", I hope that you got something out of it. If you have any questions, please let me know. Again, I do not claim to be an expert on all things iPod, but rather I feel that we can all learn more when we share our resources. Technology changes daily, and without a professional dialogue we cannot expect to learn all that we need to be successful with its integration in the classroom.

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Beyond Podcasting, Random, MACUL

Digital Storytelling

Okay, so my students have completed the digital story. First of all, I must admit that I totally screwed up for them. I created the file as a windows media file. Guess what? iPod doesn't support that. Duh. I knew that already. So, back to the drawing board for me.I was surprised to find, however, that my students weren't nearly as into that as they were my original podcast. I think part of it was a portability issue, which I will address for the future. But I think part of it, too, was that it wasn't as authentic when it was a story from me, as a newscast from France is. Maybe next time, I will have a "real live" French person record it, and see if that works any better for me.I was pleased with the result. If you don't have PhotoStory3 yet, download it here. It is a really fun thing to play around with.

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Beyond Podcasting, Random

Starting Out

I am so excited about the iPod prospects - not only for my classroom - but for my school. I thought that the use of iPods could aid in the acquisition of material, but I was surprised that after only one week that the numbers could jump so quickly!I did learn a few very important things. Firstly, 7 minutes is just too long. I need to try and keep the podcasts to around 2-5 minutes if possible. This is a bit complicated by the addition of a song to my podcast, but I know that it could be do-able.I've also found that some students just don't know as much about podcasts as you'd think they do. I was surprised to find that many of my students did not know what a podcast was, let alone how to access it. I even had a student tell me that he didn't use iTunes because it was expensive (iTunes is a free download - music costs around $.99 per song, but most podcasts and some music are free)!This week, I'll be giving the kids a digital story that they have to watch/listen to, and then fill out a short questionnaire about. I'm hoping that this will equally help them. Also, later this year I hope to have the kids do their own photostory - much like they would for a video project.

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iPods, iTunes, Podcasting