Calgary students might soon use iPods in the classroom

Her friend Veronica Letourneau, also 15, said she thinks a traditional classroom works just fine.

“I mean, all we really need to do on the computers is to type stuff up for essays or whatever. I don’t think we need anything too advanced, personally. I think we’re good.”

The school board’s project won’t just look at how technology can fit in to classrooms and libraries. A big part will be figuring out how to help kids be smart about finding information in a wired world and knowing who and what to trust, said Hansen.

“The problem these days is not actually finding information, we’re drowning in it,” she said. “We need to be working with all of our learners on information literacy skills.”

Other schools and universities have made the leap to newer technology as a way to connect with youth.

For example, iPods have become popular at some universities to help teach music and foreign languages.

Duke University in North Carolina gave all new students in 2004 free iPods and designed a special website where educational resources could be downloaded.

A review after the first year found 60 per cent of students used the gadgets to record audio for classroom purposes, while three quarters used them in at least one way to support classroom learning.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines earlier this year when he suggested that relying on printed textbooks is out of date and too costly.

Schwarzenegger launched an initiative to see whether students could use more online learning materials, projecting that math and science books will be digital by the fall.

Hansen said Calgary schools aren’t set to follow suit – students won’t see shelves of books replaced with digital docking stations.

Rather, she said, the idea is to add on to existing resources to let students personalize their educational experience.

“We are not saying in any way, shape or form that we’re taking books out of the system and only using digital, absolutely not,” she said.

“We are expanding the types of resources that students have at their fingertips and letting them choose what works best for them.”

- The Canadian Press