By Michele Richinick and Kate Augusto
Only 22 podcasts from three departments have been uploaded under Northeastern courses in iTunes U since Information Services (IS) staff announced its decision to make iTunes U available last year. Some some students, however, have expressed interest in a more widespread adoption of the service.
iTunes U allows students to download lectures and other class materials onto their computers and iPods, as reported by The News in January 2007.
In addition to the nearly two dozen academic podcasts, Northeastern has published several other types of uploaded podcasts, including Boston tours.
The success of iTunes U depends on the individual classes, and some subjects cannot or should not need to use iTunes U as a supplement, said director of Academic Technology Services Leslie Hitch.
“It depends on what the individual professors are trying to teach,” Hitch said. “Technology is coming and changing so rapidly.”
Susan Ventura, a physical therapy professor, said professors can choose to limit access to their podcasts by only uploading it to Blackboard. She said this may be why it doesn’t seem like many people use it. To upload it to iTunes U, Ventura said professors can send the podcasts to the Educational Technology (Ed Tech) center, where someone there will do it for them.
Hitch said the number of students who used iTunes U has not been recorded.
“Students like it because even if very few went back and listened to it, just to know it was there made them feel like there was a safety net if they didn’t understand something,” Ventura said.
Alicia Russell, director of the Educational Technology Center, said the Provost Office bought iPods for this use, but Apple changed the designs so the microphones for recording the podcasts did not correspond with the recently purchased iPods. This caused some problems and is one reason why iTunes U hasn’t been signficantly publicized.
Russell said the success of the technology depends on student demand and how effective it is.
“There are two things to ask: is it effective and is it easy to use?” Russell said.
Still, professors wishing to use it have access to 10 iPods and two MP3 players that can be signed out through the Ed Tech Center. Professors also need a microphone and computer to record lectures. These are not provided.
“Having iTunes U would definitely be beneficial. Being a science major, there are mostly all PowerPoint lectures,” said Leah Rondon, a sophomore neuroscience major. “If lectures were on iTunes U, it would be much easier to get to them since Blackboard is down a lot.”
Danielle Walquist, office manager for the school of architecture, has been using iTunes U to podcast lectures from the schools’ lecture series.
“No one else has really jumped at [this] chance. I think that’s because they have so much going on and they rely on PowerPoint a lot,” Walquist said.
Hitch said audio is still the most popular aspect of iTunes U, not pictures or slides. “Students can use the audio while walking around campus or on a treadmill,” Hitch said.
Ventura said while students in her class didn’t seem particularly interested in having PowerPoint slides available, she would like to start uploading them with the podcasts as a supplement to the lectures, especially for more interactive lectures.
Hitch said whether or not a professor uses podcasting depends on what they think is more effective, but IS wants to make sure they provide the opportunities for whatever a professor chooses.
Still, some students said they don’t see the need for it.
“Instead of using iTunes U, I would just go to class,” said Elizabeth Lipman, a freshman psychology major.
To freshman sociology major Emily Aicher, it would be helpful for some classes but not for others. “It could be beneficial because if you miss something in class you could go back and double check,” she said. Ventura wants more professors to take advantage of the service.
“I really hope it catches on. Students are really excited about it and anything we can do to enhance students’ learning is a good thing,” she said.
