iTalk, iListen, iLearn

The languages faculty at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina has been experimenting with the use of iPods to enhance teaching and learning since 2004 as part of The Duke Digital Initiative. Professors Joan Clifford, Lisa Merschel, Joan Munné and Melissa Simmermeyer were amongst the first to take advantage of the natural fit of iPods and language instruction in their elementary, intermediate and advanced Spanish language courses. In the document, iTalk and iListen in Spanish, they say that:

"The mobility of listening comprehension activities and recording capabilities has opened up new avenues for language students and instructors"

The iPods are used by the students and professors in the following ways:

The students:

• listen to audio clips based on their workbook and textbook as well as dramatic recordings of four short 'novellas'
• read text files which accompany the audio material to further improve their comprehension
• record dialogues and keep a weekly 'oral diary' using an attached microphone
• explore the use of Spanish language podcasts
• interview native speakers

The professors:

• record feedback on compositions and oral exams
• create an iTunes playlist including Spanish language songs used to reinforce grammar, functions and vocabulary in class
• make weekly recordings called 'audio flashcards' which are designed to revise vocabulary and review pronunciation
• monitor students' progress in speaking Spanish
• record native Spanish speakers of different backgrounds reading the course literature

The CIT article iPods Assist with Spanish Accents provides further detail about the project and includes examples of an audio diary, a novella and audio flashcards for you to listen to and download.

In the articles, iPod tops the class at Duke and College Life 2.0 - How technology is changing the college experience Lisa Merschel claims the iPod project has 'revolutionized her students’ experience with language'. Here are some of her observations:

"Before, I would just play a CD in front of the whole class and there would be some students whose eyes would glaze over after the first couple of seconds and some who would get this intense look of fear on their faces. With the iPods, each student can listen at their own pace and they have the control to pause or replay certain parts… I find that the slower students have more confidence.”

Margaret Soltan, English professor at Duke University mentions the conveniency of using iPods in her post iPod, RIP, iPod Experiment. She describes how Lisa Merschel finds that iPods allow for 'expanded course content', quoting her saying:

"students can download their audio listening exercises to the iPod and do their homework anywhere instead of relying on language lab hours"

Margaret goes on to outline some of the difficulties experienced by the Languages faculty during the project, namely:

• using technology with large classes
• students forgetting to bring or charge their iPods
• students primarily using their iPods for recreational, rather than educational purposes

She quotes Aaron Markham, one of Lisa Merschel's students who gives an honest and balanced view of the program. On the one hand, he says that "The iPod facilitates learning and makes it a better overall experience,". However, he adds that "the iPod experiment did not pan out how the administration hoped,".

Students Keith Rand and Lissa Smith are more positive. Keith says using an iPod allows him to work at his own pace and target the sections he finds particularly challenging. Lissa enjoys being able to review pronunciation whilst on the move. She says:

“It’s especially nice for me because I often work and travel for my work,” she says, “and when there are places I can’t access a computer this is really great for me.”

The iPod program has admittedly been a costly experiment, but has nonetheless provided useful insights on how technology can respond to individual needs and learning preferences. For the latest developments and future plans of the project, have a look at the Webcast Archive from The Duke University. Don't forget you'll need Quicktime installed on your computer to view the clips.

Comments

[Ewan McIntosh]

I posted some time ago about how the Duke iPod experiment had, for wont of another word, been a failure. In the first two years most students used their iPods to download music and didn't even use the calendar or organiser functions. What the languages department has done is good, but by no means exceptional given the investment Apple and the university had put in to making the hardware ubiquitous.

The same errors have been repeated, unfortunately, elsewhere in the schools sector. Where lots of money appears there sometimes seems to be a disproportionate lack of time and effort spent thinking about how these tools could be genuinely useful.

Am I being pessimistic? I hope so, but haven't yet seen large-scale examples of schools or universities making a success of iPods per se for learning. Now, making podcasts for consumption... that's another question... ;-)

[Joe Dale]

Hi Ewan,

Here are three interviews

http://connect.educause.edu/blog/dianao/invasion_of_the_ipods_educause_pocket_edition_1/1386
http://connect.educause.edu/node/2177
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/cyprien/eli_spring_focus_session_on_mobile_learning_the_duke_ipod_project/2266

you refer to in your blog post 'Podcasting invades Higher Education' which certainly give an insight on the iPod project:

http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2005/11/podcasting_inva.html

I agree it seems that the students are more interested with the iPods as a way of playing and storing their music collections rather than as a learning tool. The staff on the other hand discuss their intentions of first creating a culture of using iPods to enhance learning and then to target specific courses that have proven benefits of their use.

In the iPod project webcast referred to in my original post, there is a piechart which shows that Languages are the faculty that use the iPods the most.

The point of my article was to give practical examples of how the Spanish department at Duke University are using iPods to enhance language learning and provide food for thought to colleagues interested in following suit.

It is clear there have been setbacks although from the evidence I've come across I wouldn't describe the program as being a failure. On the contrary it appears to highlight the learning benefits of iPods as a way of extending learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom.

As we both know mistakes have to be made for learning to take place. I would argue that this experiment has been very costly and a little unfocused to begin with, yet it has been worthwhile, particularly for the languages faculty.

Best wishes

Joe

[Graham Davies]

It comes as no surprise to me that simply making podcasts available to language students is not effective per se. Thinking back to my days as a language centre director, we had a similar experience when satellite TV first became available. “Wow! What a great resource!” we thought. But students, left to their own devices, did not get a lot out of watching TV. So we introduced generic worksheets into the satellite TV viewing room. We had one for recordings of news broadcasts. It was just one sheet of A4, which the students filled in and handed in to language centre staff. On the sheet were a few simple tasks, such as:
1. Write down the headlines of the main news items that you viewed in the broadcast.
2. Write down 10 new words or phrases that you learned. (Students usually borrowed a dictionary from the language centre at the same time as they borrowed the video recording, so they could look up new words and phrases.)
3. Write down a summary of the news item that interested you most and why.
The worksheets were not marked by language teaching staff. They were mainly intended to be a means of focusing students’ attention, but teaching staff would pick completed worksheets at random and offer feedback to students. This resulted in a marked improvement in the way students used satellite TV recordings. Our local comprehensive school has adopted a similar strategy. Students file the completed worksheets in a portfolio which their teachers can view at any time. It's highly motivating!

[Joe Dale]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your detailed advice. I agree that students need to have a purpose to listen to the recordings made by their teachers or native speakers. Having written support also can help those students who have different learning preferences. For example, in the Duke iPod project, students could access text files to support their learning as well as refer to workbooks, textbooks and other reading material.

For audio or video recordings to be worthwhile learning tools, they need to be clearly targeted for the needs of the listeners. It seems to me that that is what the Spanish department were trying to do at Duke.

[Graham Davies]

Duke has a long-standing reputation in CALL. The WINCALIS authoring package for CALL was produced at Duke.

It's a pity that so little attention is paid to the integration of ICT into the curriculum. This it the theme of EUROCALL 2006 in Granada, Spain, which takes place early next week:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org
Remember you can join the Virtual Strand online:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/news/items/2006virtualstrand.html
Over 100 people from all over the world have already signed up for the Virtual Strand.

Module 2.1 at the ICT for Language Teachers website is all about integration, but it is the least visited module out of the 16 modules, whereas the technical modules dealing with hardware and multimedia are the most visited: http://www.ict4lt.org

Since I first got involved in ICT in the mid-1970s the "wow!" factor has exercised more of an influence on teachers than thinking seriously about the ways in which ICT could improve on traditional resources and approaches. I just looked back at my first EUROCALL conference presentation in 1987. It was entitled "Integrating CALL into the Languages Curriculum". Interesting, especially in view of this year's conference theme, "Integrating CALLinto Study Programmes". Plus ça change?