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Besides music, the iPod also plays audio books. These are essentially books that has been converted into a audio format and saved as a MP3 file. From a technical angle, there is no difference in the file format between a music or a book and you can download and play the same audio book off your computer or your iPod. This opens you to a whole library of 'books' for your iPod. These can include many great books found in public domains and downloaded for free. There are also many good commercial 'books' that you can purchase for a small price. These audio books are great as you can play them over and over again in the car, on the train or even on the plane. It's a good way to kill time and gain knowledge at the same time.

Most podcast are free and you can download and treat them just like audio books. Similarly, you can subscribe and organize these podcast on your computer iTunes and then synchronize them to your iPod. It's also a great way to gain knowledge while driving or taking transport to school or work. http://www.wirelessgalaxy.com/researchcenter/use-of-apple-ipod-as-an-education-device.asp

Podcasts - Sync education podcasts created by students and teachers for learning on the go. Audiobooks - Download audiobooks on a multitude of subjects from authors including Elie Wiesel, William Shakespeare, and Mark Twain. Music - Supplement a history lesson and bring rich cultural, historical, and educational value to all subject areas. Photos - Bring new life to science experiments, art history, and journalism projects. Videos - Experience a wide range of visual content, from short documentaries to foreign language lessons, for even more learning opportunities.

iPod Helps Special-Needs Students Make the Grade Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/louisamuscatine/ At Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School, special education students use iPods to take tests at their own pace. By listening to the test questions as they see them on the iPod screen and on their paper, several of the school's students with special needs are beginning to work more independently. At the same time they've increased their self-esteem, and have found a way to join the mainstream of education.

Elementary School Students Become Podcasting Pros Wells Elementary School http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/wells/ Students at Wells Elementary School produce their own educational Podcasts. The students have created such a "buzz" that educators across the globe now download and listen to the podcasts, and send questions for the students to research and answer in future recordings. This type of education brings true value to the students.

iPods Enter Duke Classes Duke University http://cit.duke.edu/ideas/newprofiles/ipod_faculty_articles.do The entire Duke University class of 2008 received Apple iPod digital devices as part of a university initiative to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life. This mix of pop culture, information technology and pedagogy has generated enormous interest from other educators as well as news media. At Duke University: Economics Lectures Recorded, Reviewed with iPods Accounts of Columbine Shootings Captured, Analyzed with iPods iPods speed the collection of data in engineering classroom iPods Assist with Spanish Accents iPod Tunes Illustrate Engineering Principles iPods Help Carry On Class Discussions Bach Accompanies Students on iPods http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/212/37/

http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf-- duke university's evaluation of ipods during the first year of their new program

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/ipods-as-study-aids-496199.html- article about duke university

**Ipod Sites** http://www.ipreppress.com- this site offers study guides, travel guides, and foreign training guides that students can download onto their ipod.

http://www.raybook.com- this site has study guides and cliff notes that are in either video or audio form that are compadable on ipod’s

http://journals.worldnomads.com/language-guides/post/1370.aspx- this site offers podcasts that teach student how to speak Spanish, Thai, French, Hindi, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and various other languages

[|record] http://www.cramsession.com/certifications/products/list-study-guides.asp?vendor_id=7&view_type=active&vendor_name=&rd=%2F- this site offers students study guides to help with exams

http://www.ipreppress.com/Pages/Test%20Prep/SN/SATVocabulary.htm- offers test taking strategies, SAT study guides and vocabulary builder that you can download on a ipod that will help you with those tricky vocabulary words we encounter in high school. **Uses of Ipods for Teachers and Students**


 * Recorded sessions** - with an ipod teachers can record lectures and place them online for students to listen to. This would help with students who have missed school. Plus we all know that when teachers give a lecture we forget it once we leave the classroom so it would help if lectures were recorded.


 * Language Teaching-** you can use ipods and even itunes to teach languages very successfully. You can make language files on itunes and store it on ipods.


 * Information Delivery-** teachers could download a program called Pod2Go that would allow the teachers to put specified information from a website or server on the students ipod


 * Audiobooks-** audiobooks are a powerful way to get students interested in reading and there are now a large numbers of audibooks available.


 * Podcast Course Material-** podcasting allows the information to be delievered to students without any effort made by the student. The teacher would have to do all the work in setting up the programs and material but all the student has to do is subscribe. And the teachers could make various material such as notes, eBooks, videoed or recorded lectures, tutorial videos, etc.


 * News Articles**

**Study: Ipods Help Students Concentrate**

A new study suggests that using iPods in the classroom helps most students [|concentrate longer, focus more often, and maintain interest] in subjects which translates to improved letter grades. While most schools discourage or even forbid bringing iPods to class, students at a Melbourne school are using technology to replace whiteboards and text books, according to TV3.co.nz. One student participating in the study reported raising at least one letter grade, while another said she improved 30 percent as a result of using technology in the classroom.  Over the past six months eight year students at Heathmont Secondary College in Melbourne have participated in a trial to see whether technology that interests them could help the learning process. The results, which were assessed by the Victorian Department of Education, show report cards as positive results of the trial. Math teacher Sally Bodo at Heathmont College said it is vital that teaching methods keep up with technology to keep kids interested in the learning process. Those study results coincide with feedback from the principal of a school in the U.S. almost exactly a year ago, who said students with learning disabilities [|improved worksheet and quiz scores] by using iPods as learning tools. A new study suggests that using iPods in the classroom helps most students [|concentrate longer, focus more often, and maintain interest] in subjects which translates to improved letter grades. While most schools discourage or even forbid bringing iPods to class, students at a Melbourne school are using technology to replace whiteboards and text books, according to TV3.co.nz. One student participating in the study reported raising at least one letter grade, while another said she improved 30 percent as a result of using technology in the classroom.  Over the past six months eight year students at Heathmont Secondary College in Melbourne have participated in a trial to see whether technology that interests them could help the learning process. The results, which were assessed by the Victorian Department of Education, show report cards as positive results of the trial. Math teacher Sally Bodo at Heathmont College said it is vital that teaching methods keep up with technology to keep kids interested in the learning process. Those study results coincide with feedback from the principal of a school in the U.S. almost exactly a year ago, who said students with learning disabilities [|improved worksheet and quiz scores] by using iPods as learning tools.

**Ipods to ‘help US students study’**

Students starting their studies at Duke University in the US are to be given an Apple iPod to help them learn. The North Carolina university said the iPods will be pre-loaded with information for new students, as well as a copy of the academic calendar. They will also hold course material such as lecture notes and audio books. The gift has been put together with the help of Apple which has also crafted a special version of its iTunes music store to let Duke students buy music. Lynne O'Brien, director of Duke University's Center for Instructional Technology, said many lecturers at the educational institute were keen to add visual and audio elements to their courses. She said it would also be useful for those courses where audio has always been a part. "The iPod project will encourage faculty to experiment with adding elements such as music, foreign language and poetry to class curricula," she said. **Students Get Ipods as Study Aids** A US university has given iPod digital music players to its students to help them with their coursework. The students at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia have found that, far from distracting them from their studies, the music players are an integral part of coursework. Apple donated about 50 iPods as part of an experimental project to illustrate creative uses for the machine. University professors say the gadgets have helped the students think more critically about their course.

www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

Music's interconnection with society can be seen throughout history. Every known culture on the earth has music. Music seems to be one of the basic actions of humans. However, early music was not handed down from generation to generation or recorded. Hence, there is no official record of "prehistoric" music. Even so, there is evidence of prehistoric music from the findings of flutes carved from bones.

 The influence of music on society can be clearly seen from modern history. Music helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. When he could not figure out the right wording for a certain part, he would play his violin to help him. The music helped him get the words from his brain onto the paper.

Albert Einstein is recognized as one of the smartest men who has ever lived. A little known fact about Einstein is that when he was young he did extremely poor in school. His grade school teachers told his parents to take him out of school because he was "too stupid to learn" and it would be a waste of resources for the school to invest time and energy in his education. The school suggested that his parents get Albert an easy, manual labor job as soon as they could. His mother did not think that Albert was "stupid". Instead of following the school's advice, Albert's parents bought him a violin. Albert became good at the violin. Music was the key that helped Albert Einstein become one of the smartest men who has ever lived. Einstein himself says that the reason he was so smart is because he played the violin. He loved the music of Mozart and Bach the most. A friend of Einstein, G.J. Withrow, said that the way Einstein figured out his problems and equations was by improvising on the violin. Bodily Responses to Music In general, responses to music are able to be observed. It has been proven that music influences humans both in good and bad ways. These effects are instant and long lasting. Music is thought to link all of the emotional, spiritual, and physical elements of the universe. Music can also be used to change a person's mood, and has been found to cause like physical responses in many people simultaneously. Music also has the ability to strengthen or weaken emotions from a particular event such as a funeral.

People perceive and respond to music in different ways. The level of musicianship of the performer and the listener as well as the manner in which a piece is performed affects the "experience" of music. An experienced and accomplished musician might hear and feel a piece of music in a totally different way than a non-musician or beginner. This is why two accounts of the same piece of music can contradict themselves.

Rhythm is also an important aspect of music to study when looking at responses to music. There are two responses to rhythm. These responses are hard to separate because they are related, and one of these responses cannot exist without the other. These responses are (1) the actual hearing of the rhythm and (2) the physical response to the rhythm. Rhythm organizes physical movements and is very much related to the human body. For example, the body contains rhythms in the heartbeat, while walking, during breathing, etc. Another example of how rhythm orders movement is an autistic boy who could not tie his shoes. He learned how on the second try when the task of tying his shoes was put to a song. The rhythm helped organize his physical movements in time.

It cannot be proven that two people can feel the exact same thing from hearing a piece of music. For example, early missionaries to Africa thought that the nationals had bad rhythm. The missionaries said that when the nationals played on their drums it sounded like they were not beating in time. However, it was later discovered that the nationals were beating out complex polyrhythmic beats such as 2 against 3, 3 against 4, and 2 against 3 and 5, etc. These beats were too advanced for the missionaries to follow.

Responses to music are easy to be detected in the human body. Classical music from the baroque period causes the heart beat and pulse rate to relax to the beat of the music. As the body becomes relaxed and alert, the mind is able to concentrate more easily. Furthermore, baroque music decreases blood pressure and enhances the ability to learn. Music affects the amplitude and frequency of brain waves, which can be measured by an electro-encephalogram. Music also affects breathing rate and electrical resistance of the skin. It has been observed to cause the pupils to dilate, increase blood pressure, and increase the heart rate. The Power of Music on Memory and Learning The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activate the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information.

According to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music. For example, the ancient Greeks sang their dramas because they understood how music could help them remember more easily ). A renowned Bulgarian psychologist, Dr. George Lozanov, designed a way to teach foreign languages in a fraction of the normal learning time. Using his system, students could learn up to one half of the vocabulary and phrases for the whole school term (which amounts to almost 1,000 words or phrases) in one day. Along with this, the average retention rate of his students was 92%. Dr. Lozanov's system involved using certain classical music pieces from the baroque period which have around a 60 beats per minute pattern. He has proven that foreign languages can be learned with 85-100% efficiency in only thirty days by using these baroque pieces. His students had a recall accuracy rate of almost 100% even after not reviewing the material for four years. [|**www.computerworld.com**/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9018594]

May 4, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The Associated Press published an article last week about high schools increasingly banning iPods because some kids use them to cheat.

The article, reprinted in USA Today and hundreds of other newspapers, reported one example where a school "recently enacted a ban on digital media players after school officials realized some students were downloading formulas and other material onto the players."

I don't want to second-guess the individual decisions of specific teachers and school principals. But the ban does raise questions, the most interesting of which is: Should iPods or other handheld gadgets instead be "required" during tests?

What the iPod ban teaches kids

Most high school students prepare for tests by guessing what facts might be on the test, then trying to memorize those facts to maximize their grades. Hours after the test, those facts tend to be forgotten. This is a gross oversimplification, sure, but largely true.

How much of your high school history, science or math do you still retain to this day? If you're like me, the answer is practically zero.

In my case, the single most valuable thing I learned in high school was how to touch-type (thank you, Ms. Balish!). Skills, habits and experiences, more than temporarily memorized facts, are what turn us into adults who can learn.

So many college students I've met -- even at some of the nation's top universities -- are there because they have an aptitude for memorization. Many straight-A high school students have few interests, little curiosity and zero inclination toward intellectual discovery. Our system rewards the memorizers and punishes the creative thinkers.

An iPod, when used during tests, is nothing more than a machine that stores and spits out data. By banning iPods and other gadgets, we're teaching kids to actually become iPods -- to become machines that store and spit out data. Instead, we should be teaching them to use iPods -- to use that data and to be human beings who can think -- and leave data storage to the machines.

By banning iPods, we're preparing our kids for a world without the Internet, a world without iPods, a world without electronic gadgets that can store information. But is that the world they're going to live in?

What iPods teach kids What are those iPod cheaters doing, really? They're creatively putting facts at their fingertips using ubiquitous technology in preparation for using those facts. <span style="color: rgb(40, 101, 246);"><span style="color: rgb(22, 98, 248);"> Isn't that a more realistic preparation for college, career and life than teaching memorization?

When I go into a meeting, deliver a presentation, write a column or develop a report, electronic gadgets and Internet-connected PCs are always part of the process. My ability to use those devices and my ability to think critically using the universe of facts always at hand determines to a large degree the quality of my work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/education/09ipod.html?_r=1

Hudson County has been handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs.

[|**www.echeat.com**/essay.php?t=27514]

How does music affect one's intellect?

Music is said to affect the intellect of humans in several different ways. Specifically, it is said to affect infants more than any other age group. Music can improve learning skills, test taking skills, concentration, heartbeat, and relaxation. Music has been proven to offer several benefits for infants, young children, young adults, as well as for adults.

With all of this in mind, how can one connect music with intellect? Many recent research studies focus on theoretically proving the way in which music improves cognitive thinking. These studies show that early learning experiences determine which neurons will connect with other neurons and which ones will die off. Connections between neurons (synaptic connections) are largely related to adult intelligence. They increase at the fastest rate during the first six years of a human life. Music training is said to develop synaptic connections that are related to abstract thought. For this reason, the number of music lessons given at ages six and younger are dramatically increasing. The right hemisphere of a human brain serves to process information in a spontaneous or intuitive way.

For example, the way in which a person responds to the art of music is a form of an intuitive process of thinking. The left hemisphere of a human brain functions to process information in a linear or sequential way. Learning subjects such as Math or English are prime examples of this process. After using a brain scanning technique, scientists discovered that musicians had a 25% enlargement in the area of response in the right side of the brain. This enlargement was greater for musicians who began studying music at young ages. New born babies tend to use the right hemisphere before the left; they react to pitch and visual changes instantly before reacting to counting or words. Therefore, babies are exposed to music and rhymes.

Infants and adults respond to music in similar ways. Infants and adults were tested in order to examine any possible relationship between each group’s reaction upon hearing music. During the experiment, infants were found to immediately turn their heads towards the music when any was presented. Similarly, when the test was given to adults, they responded in the same manner. These tests show that the patterns of responses in both babies and adults are the same, concluding that the human brain reacts to pitch changes regardless of age.

Besides being beneficial for infants, music is quite advantageous to many adolescents, especially to those with learning deficiencies. Children with severe learning deficiencies can benefit from constant music exposure. A study was done on a seven-year-old girl with an autistic condition, which caused her to use gestures and occasional words instead of full sentences. After enrolling in a program that inter-related piano playing with speaking, the young girl's speaking ability improved remarkably.

Alhough music is significantly valuable for children with learning disabilities, it still has many benefits to those adolescents with average cognitive capabilities. In 1994, scientists conducted an experiment using three groups of preschoolers. One group received private piano and keyboard lessons; the second group received private computer lessons; and the third group received no training at all. After four months, the children who received piano and keyboard lessons scored 34% higher on abstract reasoning tests than the other pupils. This test reinforces the idea that music can have a great impact on the intelligence of adolescents.

Music also offers several advantages for college students. College students were given standard tests of reasoning and were exposed to three different types of music, each for a span of ten minutes. The research showed that the performance of the students improved after listening to the music of Mozart. Scientists believe the improvements were due to the structure of Mozart's music, which aided the students' cognitive processing.

In 1993, a physicist named Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher, a professional cellist and expert in cognitive development, initiated the idea of the Mozart Effect. Both were from the University of California at Irvine, and they designed an experiment to prove that listening to Mozart’s music has a positive effect on the human brain. The subjects used in their study were college students; these students listened to ten minutes of Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. After listening to the music, the students were given the Stanford-Binet IQ Test. The test results showed a temporary enhancement of spatial reasoning and memory.

Shaw and Rauscher repeated the same experiment several times using different testing techniques. Students showed improvements of up to 51 points on the Standardized Achievement Test. Students were also given other tests, including one that involved paper cutting and folding. After listening to a relaxation test and a moment of silence, students’ scores increased 8 to 9 points.

The results from the Mozart Effect were quickly published in scientific journals. Although some people disagreed with the results, the article was so appealing that many scientists as well as citizens accepted the Mozart Effect as a “universal truth”.

Even though many people agree with the Mozart Effect, there are still those in controversy with the idea. Soon after Rauscher and Shaw completed their project, researchers at the University of Auckland tried to replicate it. They found no results and concluded that the Mozart Effect indeed did not exist. Critics of the Mozart Effect wonder why the world’s smartest people are not Mozart specialists. They feel that music may serve several purposes such as coordinating physical labor, keeping an army in step, and providing a powerful means for emotional self-reflection, illumination, and expression; however, the one thing that music cannot overcome is will.

Not only does music affect intellect, but it also benefits health. This reasoning is due to a person’s heartbeat. A slower heartbeat indicates relaxation. Students usually study in quiet, relaxed surroundings while listening to serene music.

Classical music can steady a fast heartbeat. For example, a student’s heartbeat may increase due to test anxiety. An adagio-tempo song might slow the heartbeat and help the student loosen up and relax. Exercise plays a crucial role in maintaining good health, and music can be beneficial to this. Music reduces muscle tension, resulting in a better, more efficient work out. Scientists performed controlled studies using adult males who were approximately 25 years old. Scientists took blood samples before and after treadmill running. The experiment found that with the presence of music, heart rate, blood pressure, and lactate secretion in the brain were significantly lower. The results proved that music improves workouts and reduces stress.

Music benefits infants, young children, college students, and adults. Experiments relating exposure to music and intelligence are ubiquitous and usually positive. Music is gaining the reputation of having more power than it generally did in the past. Different types of music create different effects depending on the person. Listening to an up beat, fast song might give someone energy to work out; listening to a soft, relaxing song might put a person to sleep; and listening to Mozart may enhance spatial reasoning and memory in the brain. Whatever the situation may be, music seems to have a purely benefiting effect.