Interesting article about iPhones and iPods and their use in education in the NYtimes today.

Increasingly, colleges and universities are finding novel uses for devices providing a constant connection to the Internet. iPhones and iPods are elegant delivery platforms for media rich content, from course materials distribution and collaboration through web forums to video podcasts of lectures and labs. If a professor, or that mysterious instructor called ‘staff’, knows each student has access to a specific rich media interface it becomes another delivery method for your curriculum. Increasing opportunities for contact and collaboration.

“We had assumed that the biggest focus of these devices would be consuming the content,” said Tracy Futhey, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Duke.

But that is not all that the students did. They began using the iPods to create their own “content,” making audio recordings of themselves and presenting them. The students turned what could have been a passive interaction into an active one, Ms. Futhey said.

These efforts are only beginning. Sadly, our local university does not participate in this innovation.

(See also: NYtimes: Welcome Freshmen. Have an iPod.)
(See also: Iconfactory: Twitterrific)
(See also: Apple: iPod touch)