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<\/a><\/p>\nIn an ideal Apple-dominated world, I would have purchased 12 copies of the refurbished 8-gigabyte iPod 4, but I ran into several problems here. \u00a0First, Apple will not sell more than nine (9) of the same item to a single purchaser if that person is taking the units outside of the United States. ( I tried to purchase 12 units both under an educational umbrella and under a small business umbrella, with no joy.) \u00a0 Second, due to a lost or unsent email, I only received clear confirmation of the Fulbright award two weeks before leaving for Morocco. \u00a0Add in several days of telephone negotiations, and I had to purchase what was available and could be shipped to me before my departure. \u00a0This happened to be 9 x 16-gigabyte iPods (black) and 3 x 8-gigabyte iPods (white). \u00a0So far, 8 gigabytes offer plenty of space for my needs.<\/p>\n
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Why 12 units? \u00a0I planned to limit workshops to ten participants , and I thought I might lose one or two units along the way. \u00a0In fact, the first workshop ended up having 13 participants, so I was grateful to have my personal iPod along to add to the mix. \u00a0(I could have used another three for co-facilitators and local partners!) After purchasing the iPods, fool that I am, I discovered that the camera on an iPod 4 is significantly inferior to the camera on the iPhone 4. \u00a0That was a serious blow. \u00a0I had hoped to have participants take photos for their stories on the iPods themselves–I had thought the iPods could be a one-stop media center. \u00a0 I didn’t have the budget to add cameras or switch to iPhones: what could I do? \u00a0Eric suggested asking the Swarthmore College community for donations. \u00a0I did, and six generous people, some of whom I had never met, contributed their gear. \u00a0Keeping different charging systems with the correct camera is a little complicated, and many of these cameras have a little something wrong with them, but they’re all a big advance on the low resolution of the iPod 4 camera. I got two card readers and 3 extra cards to share around among the cameras. Now I wanted the sound quality to live up to the image quality: the voice-over is really the heart of the story. \u00a0So I ordered two microphones that slot into the USB port on the iPod, plus a windsock (also known as a dead cat, for reasons the picture makes obvious) to go over the microphone:<\/p>\n I’m not sure I would buy either of these, if I had it to do again. \u00a0There’s some improvement in sound quality, but it’s not huge, and it’s hard, in the middle of a hectic recording session, to get the microphones to the soft-spoken people who might benefit from using them.<\/p>\n In order to be able to charge the iPods rapidly, I ordered three iSound USB chargers. \u00a0Reviews note that they only charge two iPads at a time, but I naively thought they would charge four iPods at a time. \u00a0It turns out their maximum is three at a time: plug in four at once and they beep at you like persistent little baby chicks. \u00a0I’ve managed to jiggle things around enough that the loss of those last three charging ports hasn’t been a major problem.<\/p>\n But how exactly do you plug in those chargers? \u00a0I bought two strips of universal outlets, which have been remarkably helpful for life in general. \u00a0Highly recommended for living abroad, with (ungrounded) French-style plugs. I’m using my Swarthmore College-owned MacBook Pro laptop to teach with, so Power-Point presentations and sample stories are projected from the laptop through a small Casio projector. \u00a0Finished stories are projected the same way. \u00a0I carry a white sheet and duct tape in case I need to cover a wall to use as a screen. ($1129; sheet was a gift; collaborators have covered walls with white paper)<\/p>\n A collaborator tried to share her iSound unit with me, but the volume wasn’t much better than the Canon projector: not worth the (low) cost, in my opinion. But let’s not forget the cables that let the projection magic work: A core tenet of the workshop is that participants own their own stories; I wanted everyone to be able to leave the workshop with a copy of their story in hand. \u00a0The cheapest way to do this (especially in the absence of steady internet access) seemed to be to order small flashdrives to give to participants without easy internet access or personal flash drives. ($328.75 for 75) If I’d had a bigger budget, I’d have ordered a box and foam to keep the iPods safe from impact, compression, and scratches. (If I’d had a really big budget, I’d have ordered a box with foam and a built-in charging station, but that runs a couple of thousand dollars even before you start buying iPods.)<\/p>\n Because I had a small budget, my engineer-husband helped me play with low-tech alternatives: The iPods show some wear, but they’re still useable. \u00a0And this way, they fit in the bottom of a backpack with the laptop and projector (and my workshop clothes on top), and I’m ready for the road.<\/p>\n So, here’s one version of a final budget, with separate figures for the iPods I bought versus the iPods I’d like to have bought. \u00a0I’ve left off the things I haven’t found very useful. \u00a0On the other hand, it’s very difficult to get hardware over here, so if in doubt, bring it with you.<\/p>\n iPods (16g): 9 @ $149 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1341 \u00a0(3: 447) I had a research allowance of $500 from Fulbright and Swarthmore College generously contributed $2500 on short notice to bring me close to the amount I was spending. \u00a0Thank you, Marcia Brown, Assistant Provost, and Tom Stephenson, Provost!<\/p>\n And endless thanks to Eric and David, for all your help and (endless) hand-holding with the details of this project! Credit for this page belongs with Eric Behrens and David Neal of Swarthmore College. \u00a0All errors, of course, are mine. iPods are the core of the mobile lab for two reasons: 1) they are small, portable, and relatively inexpensive; and 2) the best educational apps are still (as of 2013-4) mostly limited to i-devices. \u00a0If … Continue reading Hardware (and budget)<\/span>
\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>Refurbished iPods are significantly cheaper than new; they carry a one-year warranty, which covers the term of my project (though I hope they’ll last longer than that). \u00a0Still, they’re not inexpensive. ($1728)<\/p>\n
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\nThe visual projection has been fine: the volume is a little low. \u00a0My plan was to use my husband’s Bose Soundlink (cleverly given as a birthday present last year) along with the projector, but the extra bulk is prohibitive when traveling by bus and train. \u00a0(The new Soundlink speaker looks significantly smaller and cheaper, so it might be a good option for the future for someone with more time to gather materials: money saved on iPods would be well spent here.)<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>Repurposing my old camera bag had a price tag that was hard to beat; ditto the re-use of left-over packaging.
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\niPods (8g): 3 @ $129 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 387 (9: 1161)
\nSubtotal \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1728 (12: 1608)
\nCasio slim projector: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01129
\nFlash drives: 5 @ $4.38 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0328.75
\nCard readers: 2@12.95= \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a025.90
\nSD cards: 3 @ 8.95 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 26.85
\niSound chargers:
\n3 @16.98 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 50.94
\nSurge protectors with
\nuniversal outlets 2@ $25.22 = \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a050.44
\nApple AV Digital adaptor \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a033.19
\nHDMI to HDMI cable \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05.99
\nHardware Total \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $3379.06\/3159.06
\n(see Software page for app costs)<\/p>\n
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