once upon a time people had language labs to work on the oral/aural aspects of learning a foreign language. Now things are trending towards this. What ever happened to the tape recorder? Elitist America is becoming increasingly so by the minute. I'm all for technology, but if you are going to make such an expensive piece of equipment MANDATORY, it is your responsibility as an educational institution to make sure that they are affordable (preferably free, unless damaged or not returned).
...and while we're on the subject, i'm still waiting for some more referrals. c'mon, FREE IPOD