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Far from Malibu, two Georgia universities have turned the familiar iPod into an education and research tool, now a common practice in many colleges and a handful of high schools across the nation.
However, Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga. have been practical in creating more versatile uses of the iPod on their campus. They have organized a group of faculty to invent new uses for the available iPod technology. Some professors have asked students to download videos to their iPods so that they don’t have to spend time in class watching the movies. Some professors have replaced office hours with a podcast of the week’s most frequently asked questions.
Campuses all over the nation have joined the craze. More universities are beginning to take advantage of “ITunesU,” a new service that makes university materials and lectures available to students online. Duke University in North Carolina is giving iPods to new students upon admission, and Mansfield University in Pennsylvania is trying to use podcasts as a new form of recruitment.
While Pepperdine students can be seen all over campus donning the popular white ear pieces, they offer mixed feelings about an iPod’s place in the classroom.
“I think it’s a good idea, but I wouldn’t rely entirely on iPods to learn a lecture,” freshman Zachary Buck said. “But if Pepperdine did offer its lectures on iPods, I would listen to them and use them to study.”
Some students argue that relying too much on technology for education takes away from the college experience.
“I don’t think iPod lectures would be as effective, because there wouldn’t be as much exchange between the professor and the students,” freshman Jackie Kearns said. “If that were the case, we might as well go to a large school with big lecture classes and less student/teacher interaction.”
GCSU officials defend their tactics when they say that the school makes sure its iPod lessons supplement classroom work, according to CNN.
Some Pepperdine faculty can see the advantage of using iPods in their curriculum, but are hesitant to value technology above interaction with students.
“I think it’s good and bad,” Elizabeth Simas, communication professor, said. “Good, in that students could use the iPod lectures to catch up or review. But, it could be really bad if students just listened to lectures instead of going to class because a lot of college is about interacting with other people and learning about other people.”
Dr. Tim Willis, religion professor at Pepperdine, emphasized the importance of classroom interaction, even in a lecture setting.
“I expect my students to be in class,” Willis said. “I still enforce an attendance policy. There is something that happens in a face-to-face context technology can’t offer.”
By now, most students of this generation are accustomed to advances in technology. If the iPod were to introduce another change to the learning process, Pepperdine students and professors offer creative ideas to rival those already happening at GCSU.
“If I were a professor, I would add soothing music to the background of my iPod lectures,” Kearns said. “That would make them more enjoyable to students to listen to.”
Simas would use the technology to create more opportunities for students to learn outside of her communication classes.
“I would show more videos,” Simas said. “I would have an iPod video component relevant to what we’re learning every week.”
Though using iPod technology would introduce many new advantages in education, it also leaves more room for distraction in the learning process. Some students are skeptical about whether the iPods would be used purely as study tools or as an easy excuse to skip class. Students agree that something would have to be done to regulate the new technology.
“If I were a professor, I would only give the lecture on an iPod format to students who came to class,” Buck said. “I would have to either give it to them personally, or send it to them over wireless while they’re in class. I wouldn’t want an iPod lecture to replace notes, interaction or class time.”
Willis also concludes that technology is not a replacement for class time.
“If education is just a giving and receiving of information, then it makes sense,” Willis said. “But there is more to learning than just a transfer of information.”
Submitted 04-13-2006
