The next time you see people listening to iPods, they may not be listening to the latest hit song. There's a chance they may actually be in the middle of reviewing for their next big test.
Thanks to podcasting, UF instructors have a new way to reinforce their curriculums.
A podcast is a digital file made available online using syndication feeds. Students can use iPods and other MP3 players to listen to podcasts.
Professors in the Warrington College of Business Administration implemented podcasting as a way to reinforce what is taught while giving students the chance to keep up with current events in the business world.
Eric Olson, associate director of information technology and distance learning in the college, has used podcasting since fall 2005.
His podcast, "ISM SoundBytes," covers breaking IT news and reaches about 600 students every year.
"We try to expose our students to a variety of interesting technologies and help them understand how they might be used in a business environment," he said.
While most of the audience consists of business students, about a third of these students come from other colleges.
Students in Olson's course are asked to listen to podcasts and are quizzed on the content as proof of participation. They are later required to record at least one episode of a podcast.
Olson said the project has been popular since its beginning.
Recently, the class has added audio and video formats of lectures to podcasting.
"I've had students write to me that they watch lectures while commuting on buses and subways," he said. "One student said he listens to lectures a second time on his iPod while vacuuming his apartment."
Other business podcasts cover topics related to real estate and entrepreneurship, and many feature exclusive interviews and guest speakers.
In the Department of Romance Languages and Literature, professor Gillian Lord gives her Spanish phonetics class podcast group assignments.
Students are asked to subscribe and listen to each group's podcasts. They comment and critique each other while getting more oral practice to improve their own foreign accents, she said.
Lord decided to introduce podcasting into her curriculum last year, she said.
"I do a lot of work with technology," she said. "I used to have students record assignments on audio. However, I thought the syndication of podcasts would get them that feeling of community."
For the most part, Lord said students enjoy the podcasting assignments and claims it helps them learn more.
"My goal was to give students the chance to get more speaking practice," she said. "I'll be using podcasts again in the spring."
Lord is the first teacher in the department to use podcasting in her curriculum.
"For now, I'm just tweaking it," she said. "I guess I'm a pioneer."
