OK I am not discounting the use of ipods in education but I'm not sure I agree with it. We need to be careful that technology does not take over. We need to be concerned with social interactions. I think this is important because if we lose that then how do we interact in social situations? In saying that the other side is using technology in moderation might be the key. The iPod Touch is very interesting. It has most of the iPhone features without the cell phone. You now have a wifi enabled, portable computer. This allows you to begin thinking about Ubiquitous or 1:1 computing in the classroom. You could use all of the wonderful Web 2.0 resources, and deliver content as well as take polls, etc. Physical education teachers might give take-home fitness assignments for students to track their stats -- calorie intake, number of sit-ups they can do in a minute, etc. -- and create a podcast demonstrating certain exercises.
It will depend on the model of ipod. In general you can download lectures, special recordings, etc. With a model that handles video you can also create videos for download. If the students have ipods, then we should expect them to create content based on the curriculum and share their creations with other students and not abuse their privilege.
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