CCSN Students to Use iPods to Tune in to Class

Abstract

The Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN) is launching an iPod program to try to find out if the devices can assist in student learning. Students in the five or six classes in the pilot program will be loaned iPods by the institution. Faculty in those courses will augment the syllabus with podcasts of lectures and other lessons, as well as additional resources, such as music or other recorded material that helps explain a concept. After the semester is over, faculty involved in the program will be surveyed on whether the devices improved student outcomes; if so, the program is likely to be expanded in later terms. Lester Tanaka, an instructor at CCSN, said that students today are immersed in technology and expect college content to take advantage of it. Faculty can continue to lecture, he said, which will simply put students to sleep, or they can "step up to the plate and deliver the material in a way that is more palatable." Richard Carpenter, president of CCSN, noted that "the students who have appropriate self-discipline will love it. Those who don't have that may not do as well."