AIKEN --- Podcasts and online material will become more prevalent in Aiken County high schools next year with the arrival of 40 new iPod Touch multimedia devices in late summer.

The iPods were purchased with an AT&T grant written by local nonprofit group Public Education Partners. The devices will give teachers the technology to access information from archives and podcasts for everyday lessons.

"It's enriching the curriculum. For example, if they're studying the civil rights movement, they can actually hear sound bites from someone who was there," said Diane Mangiante, the executive director of Public Education Partners. "It has much more of an impact than what comes from a book."

Although there won't be an iPod for every teacher, all seven high schools will go through training on how to use the wireless device in class. Teachers apply to use the iPod through PEP.

South Aiken High School teacher Sherry Shipes started using a 30-gigabyte model for her history and teacher cadet classes last year.

"I didn't really like PowerPoint, so I was looking for a way to display images without having to put them into the program," she said.

After playing around with available programs, she found university lectures and newscasts she could incorporate into her classes.

"I thought I would use it mostly with U.S. history to connect current events to historical events, but the more I used it the more I found," she said.

The iPod has also maximized her class time. While she takes up tests or passes out papers, students get a new podcast on current events.

Students have also used iTunesU as a way to dig deeper into a topic that Mrs. Shipes might not have time or resources to cover in class.

Though all teachers might not feel comfortable with the technology, experience shows that if the resources are provided teachers will adapt to it, Mrs. Mangiante said.

The $19,581 grant pays for the iPods. The district's only costs are labor for training and configuring wireless capabilities. Department budgets will also cover the costs of some materials, Mrs. Shipes said.

"Some things cost $1.99 to download -- shipping alone for supplements would cost more than that," she said. "It seems like a few hundred dollars is a lot to invest, but so much of this is free. If someone's willing to do the work so I can have the materials, then I'm happy to use them."