iPod Education

From the Inquirer.

Education attuned to times
Colleges make offerings available online through iTunes U.

By Elizabeth Fox Posted on Wed, Oct. 1, 2008

At the University of Michigan, Rachel Frank doesn't use her iPod only to listen to her latest rock music download. The junior and Mount Airy native also reviews recent lectures and participates in virtual review sessions. Her younger sister is getting firsthand knowledge about college admissions by listening to her MP3 player.

They both are taking advantage of the latest development in the merger of education and technology. To keep up with the growing presence of all things online, universities are now aiming to reach students, prospective students, and anyone else with a love of learning through a forum that is both popular and recognizable. In other words, they're looking to iTunes.

Conceived as a collaboration between Apple and various universities in 2004, iTunes U launched in the spring of 2006. Existing as one section of the iTunes store - generally known for television and, as of this past April, the No. 1 music retailer in the U.S. - iTunes U allows users to download free content from top-flight universities and museums, including Stanford, MIT and UC Berkeley. The offerings include lectures from faculty, remarks by visiting speakers, advice from admissions officers, and music, dance and theater performances.

The site, which began with only 16 institutions, has ballooned in recent months as more schools join up to post their content. Usage, too, is growing quickly. Villanova, which launched its iTunes U site almost eight months ago, already has about 70,000 individual subscriptions to its iTunes U podcasts.

Universities say it's a convenient way to boost their popularity and prestige, as well as rack up a few karma points for delivering education to the masses. For the general public, it's an easy way to sample the best of the best at many institutions.

Just a quick scroll through the iTunes U homepage will reveal the wide range of material available. A list of the most popular downloads includes a talk on the digital future by Apple's Steve Jobs at the Wharton School and the lectures given in MIT's freshman physics course. Lehigh University posted material from the Dalai Lama's summer visit, including videos of the making of a sand mandala and special faculty lectures on Tibet and Buddhism. And for those who weren't in California to hear Oprah deliver Stanford's commencement speech this June, you can hear her words of wisdom on your iPod.

Many schools also have posted promotional information to attract prospective students. Some offer traditional admission and financial aid information. Others, such as the New Jersey Institute of Technology, showcase campus tour videos and student presentations on campus life. Still others encourage prospective students to listen to lectures to get a sense of the class environment and course material. Last semester, Villanova created a group of podcasts for incoming students, which included an interview with men's basketball coach Jay Wright.

"It shows what a tight-knit community we are, that our basketball coach is giving advice to new students," says Ashish Desai, iTunes U administrator at Villanova University.

Universities are dividing their iTunes U sites into two sections, one public and one private. The public section is open to everyone, but in order to access the private side, users need a student ID and password. It is in this section that professors post course material specifically for their students, including lecture recaps and virtual review sessions.

"The majority of what's on our site is private," says Cole Camplese, a professor and the director of education technology services at Pennsylvania State University. Last spring, the faculty there posted more than 3,000 podcasts for students.

This is what students want. In fact, 82 percent of undergraduates polled in a recent study by the University of Wisconsin E-Business Institute say they prefer courses that record and stream lectures online as opposed to courses that feature only in-room instruction.

For some professors, offering podcasts of content keeps everyone caught up on the course material. "Mine is a commuter campus, and I hate for students to be penalized every time there's an accident on the Blue Route or a bus is delayed," says Laura Guertin, associate professor of earth systems at Penn State Brandywine. "I audio-record my lectures so that students can download them and listen during their commutes. That way, if they miss a class, it's not the end of the world, and they can continue learning even after they leave the lecture."

The system also ends up helping athletes whose sports schedules may prevent them from attending class.

"These students are able to listen to class lectures on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and then step back into class on Monday without having only secondhand information," Desai says. The same is true for those students on medical leave or with a work conflict.

So much convenience might lead to abuses on the part of students. After all, with lectures so easily available online, won't students simply take the opportunity to sleep through class?

"That's a concern for everybody," says Ilena Key, instructional technology consultant at Lehigh University. "But I think schools are finding that students are happy to come to lectures knowing that they don't have to frantically take notes, and can review concepts outside of class."

Frank, for example, uses the online material to review information but is quick to point out that, "unless I were sick or had a serious conflict, I would go to the lecture."

Still, some professors are combating the threat by putting extra work into their class presentations. "I make an effort to keep my lectures engaging," Guertin says. "If the classroom experience is not interesting, then students will probably skip it."

"Those that aren't going to come to class aren't going to come to class anyway, no matter what you do," Desai says. "Most students still see a need for hearing the professor and interacting with other students. This is just a great tool to give students access to information wherever they are, whenever they want."