A student listens to Dr. Daniels' “JN 100 On the Go” on an iPod.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. George Daniels’ introduction to journalism class at The University of Alabama sounds a lot like a radio newscast. Maybe it’s his professional broadcasting voice. Maybe it’s the interviews. Or maybe it’s the intro music.

While a number of professors recently have been recording their lectures and making them available for download, Daniels is experimenting with a different kind of educational podcast. He lets students forgo one class period each week to listen to his podcast.

“Students in that class listen to a podcast in lieu of one of the three 50-minute class sessions each week,” Daniels said.

And it’s not just a recording of a lecture. “JN 100 On the Go” includes clips from radio newscasts, interviews he has conducted with journalists and typical lecture-type components where he defines terms and explains the context. Daniels also asks questions that the student must research and answer as part of an assignment.

“The value of the podcasts is the ability to integrate interview clips, comments or actualities that are related to the subject being taught,” Daniels said. “Most of these resources I would show or play in the classroom. The podcast allows me to package that contact in a portable format that requires active learning.”

The casts, or shows, as Daniels often calls them, last from 10 to 20 minutes. “Listener attention spans are not conducive to just hearing anyone talk continuously for a long period of time,” he said. While he may not be able to cover as much material as he would in a typical class, he’s more interested in the increased learning and retaining of information that he hopes will result.

“The class is an experiment in itself,” Daniels said.

In addition to the material covered in the podcasts, he wants students to learn multi-tasking, setting their own deadlines, planning and taking responsibility – all qualities that journalists must have.

Daniels received an active and collaborative learning grant from the University to purchase six iPods for this innovative teaching experiment. Students can check out the iPods for up to 48 hours to listen to the casts. The new iPods have video capabilities, which Daniels hopes to include in future classes.

The students cannot download the podcasts from their Internet connection at home. Since Daniels uses copyrighted clips, he cannot upload them to the Web on a page anyone can access. The content management system the University uses cannot be used as a password-protected site, therefore, students must go to the Sanford Media Resource and Design Center on campus to download them or check out one of the iPods. Daniels expects that in the near future, he will be able to use RSS feed of news media so that students can access the podcasts from home.

The journalism department is housed in the College of Communication & Information Sciences at The University of Alabama, which is among the largest and most prestigious communication colleges in the nation. C&IS consistently is ranked among the top 10 in number of doctoral degrees awarded and in many of its research programs. C&IS graduates have won four of the six Pulitzer Prizes awarded to UA alumni, and the forensics and debate squad, housed within the College, has garnered 14 national championships.