Class gets portable
Recorded lectures catch on
- Page 1 of 2 next >
For some students, listening to MP3s in iTunes is a way to unwind from studying. For others, those MP3s have become an essential part of classes.
Over the past year and a half, podcasted lectures have increasingly become a part of academic life at the University. Since early 2005, the School of Dentistry has uploaded podcasts of almost all of its lectures to a private directory on the iTunes music store called ItunesU.
More than 125 LSA classes use podcasting on CTools, said CTools product manager John Leasia. In February, LSA students downloaded an average of 2,500 podcasts per week, Leasia said. The business school has launched a website to with video podcasts of speakers and has purchased podcasting equipment.
The business school's Chief Technology Officer Ed Adams, though, said the technology has yet to catch on with business school professors.
Dentistry student James Skoursen said the recordings are a huge benefit. He reviews recordings of his lectures late at night to help him keep on top of his heavy course load.
"I wouldn't pass school without podcasting," Skoursen said.
Listening to podcasted lectures lets Skoursen pause and rewind sections of a lecture that he didn't understand or wants to focus on. He said that making notes on a one-hour podcast can sometimes take him over two hours.
While he admits it's no replacement for seeing the professor, Dentistry student Harold Anderson said the podcasts give him the flexibility to learn the material on his own schedule, without necessarily attending lectures in person.
Anderson said podcasts are "majorly beneficial" when he has busy schedules and that he listens to them all the time.
"I stayed up till 4 a.m. listening to the podcasts," he said. "I drank a whole two-liter of pop listening to nine podcasts."
Lynn Johnson, the director of dental informatics at the School of Dentistry, has led podcasting efforts at the dentistry school beginning in early 2005. Today, the school has more than 993 podcasts, 10 percent of which include video.
Over the past year and a half, podcasted lectures have increasingly become a part of academic life at the University. Since early 2005, the School of Dentistry has uploaded podcasts of almost all of its lectures to a private directory on the iTunes music store called ItunesU.
More than 125 LSA classes use podcasting on CTools, said CTools product manager John Leasia. In February, LSA students downloaded an average of 2,500 podcasts per week, Leasia said. The business school has launched a website to with video podcasts of speakers and has purchased podcasting equipment.
The business school's Chief Technology Officer Ed Adams, though, said the technology has yet to catch on with business school professors.
Dentistry student James Skoursen said the recordings are a huge benefit. He reviews recordings of his lectures late at night to help him keep on top of his heavy course load.
"I wouldn't pass school without podcasting," Skoursen said.
Listening to podcasted lectures lets Skoursen pause and rewind sections of a lecture that he didn't understand or wants to focus on. He said that making notes on a one-hour podcast can sometimes take him over two hours.
While he admits it's no replacement for seeing the professor, Dentistry student Harold Anderson said the podcasts give him the flexibility to learn the material on his own schedule, without necessarily attending lectures in person.
Anderson said podcasts are "majorly beneficial" when he has busy schedules and that he listens to them all the time.
"I stayed up till 4 a.m. listening to the podcasts," he said. "I drank a whole two-liter of pop listening to nine podcasts."
Lynn Johnson, the director of dental informatics at the School of Dentistry, has led podcasting efforts at the dentistry school beginning in early 2005. Today, the school has more than 993 podcasts, 10 percent of which include video.