EDITORIAL – iPod addiction goes academic

When does a fad become the norm? Probably when colleges issue incoming students shiny new… When does a fad become the norm? Probably when colleges issue incoming students shiny new iPods.

The integration of iPod technology into academics is an increasing trend for colleges and universities. More than 100 faculty members at Georgia College and State University utilize iPod technology to supplement their curriculum, making iPods a necessity for students. Not only are lectures being offered to download on iPods, but office hours are being replaced by podcasts, providing students with answers to frequently asked questions. The latest generation of technology enables users to screen videos for class on their video-capable iPods.

Duke University supplies its freshmen with iPods as welcome gifts and uses the devices to help foreign-language students adapt to coursework, the Associated Press reports. Other colleges, including Pennsylvania’s Mansfield University, hope to entice high school students to attend their university through podcasts.

Pitt, too, is joining the iRevolution by adding a feature called CourseCasting to its Pick A Prof Web site. Teachers can record their lectures and upload them to pickaprof.com for students to download onto their iPods.

You have to congratulate educators for transitioning iPods into an academic tool. Look around – they’re everywhere. Students have become so dependent on their mp3 players that the thought of walking from the Cathedral to David Lawrence without popping in their ear buds is unbearable. iPods are a recognized addiction that colleges and universities are manipulating to their advantage.

This move by colleges has not only secured Apple a place in the collegiate world for the foreseeable future, but it reinforces the trend of isolationism that is creeping up on Americans everywhere. Now students can avoid falling asleep in class – they can fall asleep in their beds instead, iPod in hand.

No longer are the sounds of Oakland stimulating enough. Our lives must move with a soundtrack of our favorite music, news and video. The all-consuming stimulus that we have become accustomed to has made it nearly impossible for us to function without it. Eating lunch alone or studying in Starbucks has turned into a delicate dance between adjusting iPod settings and monitoring cell phone status – all while balancing a latte. Can’t we just sit and enjoy ourselves anymore?

The academic iPod invasion has one flaw, though: cost. At around $300 for a standard iPod, what happens to students that can’t afford one? Will they be at a disadvantage in classes that provide supplementary material via iPod? Sure, they can download a free version of iTunes to their computer, but some students don’t even have their own computers, relying instead on campus computer labs. And with technology changing faster and faster, will students be expected to purchase a new iPod every time a feature is added?

The appeal to teachers is understandable. By providing students with pictures, movies and other educational supplements prior to lecture, class time can be entirely devoted to discussion. However, making too much available to students is coming dangerously close to making in-class attendance obsolete.

There is no substitution for traditional teaching methods. Often the best teachers are engaging lecturers and it is an undeniable truth that something is lost when lectures move out of the classroom and into the digital world. The use of technology in the classroom is inevitable. Educators must find a way to strike the fragile balance between enriching their teaching and making attendance obsolete. After all, what’s the point of going to class when you can listen to your professor anytime, anywhere you want?