Laptop computers, iPhones and iPods are just a few of the portable devices college students use daily to surf the Web, look up directions, access e-mail or find out what their friends are doing.
Students now have immediate access to educational materials posted by professors through iTunes U, a Web site containing free digital media resources. Since Miami University piloted its iTunes U program in fall 2007, usage has been increasing for professors and students, according to Cathy McVey, senior director of strategic communication and planning for IT Services.
Ohio has seen the fastest growth of any state in iTunes U use, reaching 1 million downloads on its Ohio on iTunes U site in just eight months, according to a recent eTech Ohio article.
The most downloaded tracks in the state of Ohio, according to eTech Ohio, are educational resources, professional development materials and student-created content. In the month of September, Miami had 1,202 downloads. McVey predicts the number of downloads will increase as the semester progresses.
"We moved toward offering this service because there was a request to have it," McVey said. "The teacher education department was interested because the use of podcasts is growing in K-12 education."
McVey said there has been more full usage of podcasts in the last year, as there are currently 94 sites in use at Miami. She said each of these sites is designated to a specific course. At Miami, the strongest users of iTunes U are the foreign language and teacher education departments.
"From the research that I've looked at, I've noticed that students tend to be more likely to come to class and more likely to engage in class," McVey said. "The faculty uses it in a lot of different ways - not just for posting lectures."
Junior Kathleen VanTine, a Spanish major, used iTunes U to record herself speaking for a conversation class. She said she received feedback from her professor and was able to listen to other students' recordings in her class.
"I found it was really helpful to be able to record myself speaking on iTunes U and then watch the playback," VanTine said. "It was much easier to see my strengths and weaknesses in pronunciation, and the feedback from my professor was really useful as well."
Eva Rodriguez Gonzalez, assistant professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department, has found the audio podcasts help her students become more comfortable with speaking a different language.
"iTunes U has created a good venue for learning a new language," Gonzalez said. "My students are able to record themselves as many times as they want in a place where they feel comfortable."
Gonzalez also said she'd eventually like to have her students upload their podcasts to a blog, so she and her students can comment on the podcasts.
"I think my students really like iTunes U because they can learn from their peers, and they get a lot of practice with speaking," Gonzalez said.
iTunes U also provides ideas to help future teachers learn to bring technology into the classrooms.
Junior Blythe Ramsay, an early childhood education major, used iTunes U to record herself telling a summary of a children's story.
She and her classmates created a library of children's story summaries so that they could use them in the classroom.
"I know that I'll be able to use recordings like these for my future class," Ramsay said. "iTunes U is easy to use and a great way to bring multimedia into the classroom."
