Learning English with Ipods‪.‬

Across the world, technology is part of the social and academic lives of our students. In particular, iPods are one of the most popular forms of technology. Wikipedia, an excellent online source for information, notes that Apple has sold more than 119 million of these portable media players as of October 2007 (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod). With iPods, students can listen to, or view through an online video, a podcast. In a recent article in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Trier (2007) explains that podcasting is a shifting of time, since one can listen to material presented at any time of the day, at one's own convenience. The recent expansion of podcasting to video format is often described as "vodcasting," "vidcasting," or "vlogging" (The Economist, 2006, p. 16). This column will highlight how teachers of English language learners (ELLs) can use iPods to enhance academic language acquisition. Despite the ongoing popularity of iPods, schools throughout the world have considered banning the technology. For example, as early as 2005, a private school in Sydney, Australia, banned iPods in classrooms, as administrators claimed that iPods lead to social isolation (www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/21/1111253959952. html). The New York Times recently described a school in New Jersey where a ban on iPods resulted in as many as three iPods each week being confiscated by the school (www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/ education/09ipod.html?_r=2&adx nnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=11975 69127-zrTKrPjTATKZDoYeEP7DfQ). Similarly, Fox News reported in 2007 that many schools ban iPods to prevent cheating (www.foxnews. com/story/0,2933,268903,00.html), while describing the challenges faced at a school in Idaho.