iPods as educational tools?

As a recent graduate of Duke, I have been very interested in Duke’s use of ipods in the classroom.  My interest may stem from bitterness and envy rather than curiosity, but that’s beside the point.  Back in the summer of 2005, Duke announced that it would give all incoming freshman an ipod.  A year later, it published a report on the use of ipods and the impact on the educational experience.  The feedback was positive, but why wouldn’t it be?  Teachers get the small benefit that their students can access digital files on-the-go, and students get the benefit of having a cool little device to house all their illegally downloaded music.  Knowing that Duke’s campus is not wired, Duke’s computers (even those in the engineering school!) are outdated, and the fact that most professors do not take full advantage of Coursework or Blackboard, I felt that there were more pressing concerns regarding technology at Duke.  But they chose to spend a small fortune on the ipods, and that’s their choice.
 What brought this all back to me was a recent article about a French class using the new iTunes U and their ipods to take an exam.  After reading this, I finally understand that the educational benefit of ipods could be greater than I want to admit.  The convenience that the system creates with regard to distributing and using digital files is unparalleled because, as one student mentions, it’s just so user-friendly.  Other schools are joining the project, including Stanford.  Check out “Stanford on iTunes” where you can download all sorts of files to your ipod that will help you out in class.