Duke University Renews iPod Initiative

April 5th, 2005 at 3:00 PM - News by Misha Sakellaropoulo

Duke University, which made headlines last year by giving iPods to all 1,600 freshmen, will continue the initiative with this fallis incoming class, the university said Wednesday.

The $500,000 program has received mixed results so far, but Duke University said it will continue distributing the devices to students next year, "although in a more targeted manner, while also exploring other educational applications of multimedia technologies, school officials announced Wednesday." The iPods will be part of the new Duke Digital Initiative (DDI).

"We weren’t sure what to expect when we launched this project, but we’ve been pleased by how itis succeeded in encouraging many faculty and students to consider new ways of using the technology in fields from engineering to foreign languages," said Peter Lange, Peter Lange, the universityis provost and senior academic officer "Weive been focusing on iPods and other mobile computing, but our wider goal is to integrate technology broadly into the teaching and learning process. The iPods have helped jump-start this process, and we plan to keep pushing ahead." The full text of Mr. Langeis memo can be read here.

An updated FAQ has also been released.

The iPods have primarily been used this year in foreign language classes and for students to download lectures to listen to at their leisure. Some engineering classes have also incorporated the iPods into their curriculums. Out of 1,650 students who received iPods this year, 600 used them for classes in the fall, Duke said. Data on the spring semester is not yet available.