Collegiate Times

For students and non-students alike, the iPod has become an important entertainment device that can be hard to live without. For Radford University?s 140 music majors, the iPod will become a requirement for fall 2006 classes.

?Our students and faculty love working with the iPod technology.? said Dr. Ronald Gallops, director of bands at Radford University.

There are several advantages to having the iPods for classes. Most importantly, the iPods will become a tool for sharing music files among students. The faculty will assign recordings to listen to on the devices and will also create quizzes and other interactive educational activities on them.

?The iPod encourages students to take music everywhere they go and since most people seem to be in non-stop motion these days, my hope is that the iPods will encourage students to listen to more music programmed for their classes than if they were to plan a sit-down listening session. The danger, of course, is that they will hear Beethoven symphonies in snippets, rather than as lengthy continuous works. My hope is they will find time both for listening while on the go and while stationary,? said Dr. Bruce Mahin, director of the Center for Music Technology at Radford University.

In addition to the new iPod requirement, Radford is employing the use of a new program ? Opus X. Opus X is a digital music library that will be accessed for files to copy to the students? iPods. Over the summer the music department staff will be compiling their own music library from the department?s CDs and when the library is completed it will be available on three computers in the music lab. The department is hoping to digitize at least 1,500 CDs by the time classes begin in August. However, once the library is available, only professors and department staff members will be able to access Opus X to transfer files to the iPods.

Also, the design of the iPod does not allow students to copy the music to their computers or to CDs which will prevent the recordings from being distributed widely or used beyond the music courses.

One of the main concerns of the new requirement, however, was the cost of the iPod. The model recommended for purchase costs at least $269, even with the Apple educational student discount. However, staff members compared the price of the iPod to that of the price students pay for textbooks. Not to mention the added benefit of being able to use the iPod throughout one?s college career.

?I think it?s actually more economic. Without them, we'd be required to go out and buy CDs with music for class. Plus, who doesn't love a new iPod?? said Radford freshman music major Abby Field.

?I?m really excited about having to get an iPod. Not just because it?s the latest gadget to have, but because I think that it will help expand my musical horizon. We can upload classical music and dissect the music further. It's kind of a win-win situation, really. We get to have an iPod, and learn a lot from the experience,? said Radford freshman music major Lauren Honeycutt.

While the Radford music department plans to begin their use of the iPod in the fall, the Virginia Tech music department is still unsure of their plans as far as the iPod goes.

?While we have talked about its use, we have no immediate plans to integrate it into our curriculum yet. We?re working on revising our curriculum first,? said John Husser, head of the music department.

Radford is not the first university to compile a digital music library and use iPods in the classroom. In 1996, Indiana University?s Jacobs School of Music was one of the first schools to put a portion of its collection online. That collection, now called Variations2, consists of about 12,000 sound recording titles.

Radford is also not the first to use iPods in a classroom setting. Georgia College and State University uses them in nearly 20 courses, including four music classes.

However, Radford may be one of the first to pair both the requirement of the iPod and the technology of the digital music library.