With new advancements in technology and learning, instructors now point to the iPod as a useful tool for classroom enhancement due to its impact and engagement with sound and visual media.

In “Choreo:pod: Dance and the iPod Towards Blended Learning ”, an article from the most recent issue of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (Editor-in-Chief: Dr. David Parsons, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand), researchers Dr. Dennie Wilson, Dr. Ben Andrews, and Dr. Crispin Dale, University of Wolverhampton (UK), discuss the process students engage in when reflecting upon their experiences with the iPod as part of a blended learning approach.

“The impact of the iPod in challenging and informing artistic practice of both dance and screen-based performance remains at the heart of the Choreo:pod project,” write Wilson, Andrews, and Dale. “However from simple beginnings, the project has become a multilayered project that considers dance, the iPod, and digital literacies – and takes a blended learning approach to student learning and assessment.”

The researchers suggest that the growing popularity of everyday technologies such as the iPod will allow further engagement of students through the possibilities of new artistic practices and the recognition of less traditional forms of assessment. Wilson, Andrews, and Dale believe further research is needed to explore the application of the findings to other subject areas and institutional contexts.

(Portions of this article were taken from the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning - Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Ada Scupola.)