S.B. says hola iPods, adios tape recorders
School district begins using music players in world language classes
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Go into a Spanish or French class in South Brunswick and you may be surprised to see some kids actually having fun in class.

The public school district has started using iPods in their foreign language programs to help make lessons livelier and more cost-effective.

"All or most students have iPods already," said Thomas Decker, supervisor of world language. "It's entertaining for them. It's really replacing the tape recorder in terms of foreign language classes."

Decker explained that the students can record a sample of their verbal work using the iPod and the teacher can then give feedback on that.

"It's another way to use the language," Decker said.

The iPods are also cheaper than the alternative.

"It's more cost-effective than a very expensive computer-based lab," Decker said.

South Brunswick is not the first school system to use iPods in the classroom. In 2004, Duke University gave its entire freshman class iPods, according to The New York Times.

Grace Poli, a media specialist at Jose Marti Middle School in Union City, came up with the idea of using iPods in foreign language programs in 2004. Decker saw what she was doing and wanted to start a similar project.

"We wanted to see how we can incorporate and apply this to our French and Spanish classes," Decker said. Decker said that a cart of 14 iPods is kept in the high school and whenever a teacher wants to use them in class, they simply sign out the cart. The district hopes to make even further progression with iPods in the future.

"Teachers can program text into the iPod," Decker said. "Students can listen to an audio file, and when it's done, questions programmed into the iPod would pop up."

But perhaps most importantly to Decker, the students seem to be enjoying the new method of learning.

"It's definitely piqued their interest," Decker said. "The students are showing the teachers how to use the iPods, since they're so familiar with them. The effect of them is too early to tell, but they're engaged in the lessons, which is a positive thing."