EDUCATION REPORT - IPod Experiment at Duke University Plays

EDUCATION REPORT - IPod Experiment at Duke University Plays Out With Mixed Results
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, July 14, 2005

I'm Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Education Report.

A year ago, we told you about an experiment at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The university gave each first-year student an iPod from Apple Computer. More than one thousand six hundred students received one last August.

 
 
Apple iPods are small digital players most commonly used for music. But the ones at Duke also came with a voice recorder.

University officials wanted to know how students and professors would put iPods to educational use. Now, Duke researchers from the Center for Instructional Technology have reported the results of the experiment.

In all, about fifty classes with a total of more than one thousand two hundred students used iPod technology. The classes included not only foreign languages and music, as expected, but also economics², education and engineering³.

Seventy-five percent of the first-year students questioned reported having used their iPod for at least one purpose in their studies.

The most popular use was to record such things as classroom lectures or field notes. Sixty percent of students said they used the recording⁴ ability for educational purposes.

The iPods could also be used to store files, to move them from one computer to another. Yet many users⁵ said they did not know that.

The report says the extent⁶ to which recorded lectures improve student performance remains⁷ unknown. Many students and faculty⁸ expressed concerns that class attendance⁹ could suffer. One student commented: "It gives the message that coming to lecture or paying attention is not important because everything will be online later anyway."

The report says students were more likely to use content if it came already loaded on their iPod. But some professors found only limited uses for the technology. The recording quality was not very good in all situations. Not only that, some publishers refused to permit students to record copyrighted¹⁰ material.

There were also some technical difficulties. Yet the report says even several faculty members who had never used educational technology before had success in the project.

In any case, Duke University does not plan to give iPods to all first-year students this fall, just those in classes that used them the most.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.  I'm Bob Doughty.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

3 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

6 extent   

n.程度，范围，限度；广度，宽度，大小

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent. 这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• What's the extent of the damage? 损坏的程度如何?

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

9 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

10 copyrighted   

获得…的版权( copyright的过去式 )

参考例句：

• That magazine usurped copyrighted material. 那杂志盗用了版权为他人所有的素材。
• Why is it common for students to download copyrighted music? 为什麽学生下载有版权的音乐如同家常便饭？