Wired online has this article about faculty bringing the iPod into the classroom as a resource for students. This follows the success of the Duke University iPod initiative that gave an unit to each incoming freshman this past fall semester.
As a result Duke faculty began delivering audio resources via a “podcast” enabling students to listen to lectures and presentations after the fact, at their leisure.
As podcasting continues to grow the implications for education are two fold: embrace it and begin your own podcasts (where you can control your content) or students will continue recording lectures without your knowledge and podcast them anyway.
I have listened to podcasts of students who record lectures and place them on-line.
The ability to share resources is just a part of today’s student profile along with IM and cellphone text messaging. When I was in school students would audiotape lectures as well — nothing new — other than the digital tools and the internet to share lectures on-line.
Duke’s own faculty have provided select lectures on the Apple iTunes music store (for free) and this can only help share educational resources around the globe to further education.