Student Life

Issue date: 12/7/05 Section: News

Media Credit: David Hartstein Going beyond the realm of music, Apple's iPod has found its way into classrooms nationwide. In such classes, students have the ability to download the audio from class and listen to it at their convenience.

Apple's iPod mp3 players have already attracted millions of users for their ease of use and ability to make music accessible anywhere. Now, iPods are venturing into the classroom. At universities nationwide, students and the professors are choosing to use the iPod, the latest portable digital music player, as part of their teaching. This interest follows the "podcasting" trend, in which digital audio recordings are broadcast over the Internet, allowing students to download them at the click of a button. Apple Computer, Inc., the creator of iPod, has raved about its product's ability to make learning accessible and convenient for students.

University professors can easily upload versions of their recorded lectures online. They can create files using familiar software programs such as Quicktime Pro 7. Then, the files are ready to be published online for "podcast," a word conglomerated from the words "broadcast" and "iPod." On the company's site, Apple calls podcasting a means to free "learning from constraints of the physical classroom."

At Washington University, students can access the video version of some science courses online. But currently, the University offers no means for students to use iPods to download their lectures online.

According to Matt Arthur, director of Residential Technology Services, it is technologically feasible to post lectures online at the University and review them via iPod. Jan Weller, assistant vice chancellor of network library technology, said, however, that it would be up to each professor to decide whether or not to incorporate iPods into his or her classroom. Currently, the University does not officially endorse the use of the iPod in the classroom.

John Bleeke, associate professor of chemistry, said that since video online lectures provide both the visual and audio content of original lectures, the iPod, which mainly stores audio formats, may not be as useful for the students.

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