ASU Spanish class receives iPods

Through a $9,000 grant from the Augusta State University Foundation, students from Ms. Sara Griswold’s Spanish 2001 class will get to carry an iPod around for an entire semester. Not a bad way to start out the school year.

An iPod is a pocket-sized, ultra light device with a hard drive, which can be plugged into a regular computer to download hundreds of songs. It has become extremely popular in the United States because it’s light, and the music doesn’t skip, as it sometimes does with tapes and CDs.

“So are you excited?” Ms. Griswold, assistant professor of Spanish, asks. A resounding “Yes!” from the class followed.

However, one of the first questions from the class was answered with a resounding, “No.” They asked whether they could download whatever they wanted.

The students were informed that everything on their new iPod is in Spanish—even the menu. The program will allow students to listen to Spanish music, download photos for class assignments from their computer to the iPod, insert a microphone piece to record classes or conversations, and more, says Ms. Nicolette DeLoach, system support specialist IV in Information Technology Services, who is the coordinator for the Apple iPod program at ASU.

The idea is to get students to use and hear Spanish outside of the classroom, so that when they leave class, it sticks with them. “It’s an excellent tool for students to enhance their learning experience inside and outside the classroom,” says Ms. DeLoach. “We hope students will find that it makes it easier for them to learn.”

Ms. Griswold is the first professor at ASU to agree to incorporate the iPod into the curriculum. “This is really a pilot program to see if it works,” Ms. DeLoach says.

Natalia Gonzalez, a sophomore communications major, says the iPod will be a good way to liven up the class. “I think this is a really exciting opportunity for us,” she says. “It was completely unexpected, but I think it will give the class a new way to learn.”

Billy Phillips agrees. The sophomore English major was a little disappointed to learn that you can’t download your own music, however. “It’s pretty sweet, but it would be sweeter if we could download our own songs,” he says. “But, it’s a good tool to assist in learning.”

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