iPod accessories to make your life easier
It’s no secret that the invention of the mp3 player made the average music teacher’s life enormously easier. Most of us work off of numerous CD’s not only from our basal textbooks but from any number of supplemental resources. An iPod or other brand of mp3 player can put all of those things together in one place for relatively little money considering how long they last and the benefit to teaching and learning.
I have resisted the use of an iPod in the classroom myself and instead use my Macbook, mostly for these two reasons: 1) the school provides the Macbook and 2) the Macbook has this delightful thing called Frontrow that works with an Infrared remote.
Well, this coming year I am taking part in a 21st Century Classroom program and have been provided with an iPod to use at school (in addition to my Macbook, my cup runneth over.) While this is nice I am far too spoiled by my remote to give it up so I was browsing at the Apple store today and found two excellent options for people who want to use iPods but also want the convenience and flexibility of remote control.
The first is a docking station with speakers for about $130. It has a remote and is made by a good company (Logitech) and has excellent reviews everywhere I’ve looked.
This is a great product but if you’re using an iPod already you’ve probably either already got speakers if you’ve got it plugged into a boombox, and maybe you don’t want to drop that much money to duplicate equipment. In that case I reccomend the Apple Universal Dock which, for $49, simply adds remote control capability to your iPod and allows you to continue using whatever speakers you like. This is the frontrunner for me as I already have a speaker setup I’m in love with.
If you don’t have an iPod to use in your classroom, I highly reccomend getting one. For a few hundred bucks (chump change compared to the total budget of your school system) you can make your life exponentially easier. They’re easy to use and there’s no concerns about scratching, skipping etc. Ask your principal, ask your technology department or try to find a grant (many local organizations such as a Kiwanis club will provide small grants for something like this.)
August 15, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Hi,
My poor former music teacher had a CD nightmere at her students’ final concert of the year in a rented facility off campus!! The CD player at the venue wouldn’t read her CD-R properly, so the choral portion of the program had to be postponed and later held on campus… This MP3 player thing would have helped her tremendously!! She and the venue’s audio engineer could have simply connected it to the venue’s mixing console, and they’d have been good to go!! I’ll have to show it to her.
P. S. I really enjoy your blog!