Column:

New iPod requirement is iRrational

Requiring J school students to have expensive gadgets is poorly timed.

By Christina Stiehl

Published June 2, 2009

Say you're hung-over and don't feel like going to class, even though there's a large exam coming up. Well, there's an app for that.

Starting this fall semester, the School of Journalism will require all incoming journalism students to purchase an Apple iPod touch or iPhone along with their MacBooks. Proponents argue that as aspiring journalists, students should be familiar with how to use advancing technology for news writing and reporting. Apparently they have decided Apple creates the only advanced gadgets for the job.

Another advantage is that introductory journalism classes such as J1010 (Career Explorations in Journalism) and J1100 (Principles of American Journalism) will be recorded so students can download the lectures onto their Apple devices through iPod- and iPhone-specific applications.

According to a May 4 Maneater article, Brian Brooks, the associate dean for undergraduate studies at the J school, said research indicates students retain information better if they can go back and listen to the lecture again. Although optimistic professors might hope students will use the downloaded videos as reiteration for the lecture they already attended, the truth is the system might result in more frequent class-skipping and poorer note-taking.

After all, if I have the option between sitting among 200-plus students in a crowded lecture hall (where attendance isn't taken) or watching the lecture from the comfort of my own bed, I'm going to choose the latter. But even if I am in a minority of students who give in to the temptation of skipping class, there are more realistic concerns involved with the new requirement.

Probably the most daunting stipulation to consider is the financial constraint of obtaining and maintaining such devices. Starting at about $200 a pop, iPhones aren't cheap and they require a different, more expensive monthly plan exclusively through AT&T.

The alternative is the iPod touch, which at $229 to $399 through TigerTech, isn't cheap either. And on top of the already required -- excuse me, "strongly recommended" -- Mac laptops along with the cost of tuition, books and room and board, students and their families can hardly leave room for fancy gadget "requirements."

The university insists that since the iPod is a requirement, it can be factored into a student's financial aid package. Our nation is still in a recession and just because some students aren't eligible for financial aid doesn't mean their families can necessarily afford to spend an extra $200 to $400.

Even though I fully support utilizing the advancement of technology, especially for educational purposes, I think accessing lectures and other class materials on the Apple devices should be a helpful option, not a requirement.

Journalism students, like students of all other majors, should be able to just as easily download the lecture material onto their laptops instead of relying on iPod touch and iPhone applications for the information.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the reality is that not all pre-journalism or directly admitted J School students maintain their major choice throughout their time at MU, if they even remain students at this school. If journalism professors feel the need to implement the iPod or iPhone applications as a part of their curriculum, they should wait and do so during upper-level classes, when journalism students are in their specific sequences and sure of their career choice.

Sure, if this requirement was in effect when I was an incoming freshman, I would have been elated. I think iPhones are really cool and being able to tell my parents that I need this device in order to pass my classes would have been an extremely helpful tactic to coerce them into buying me one.

But in actuality, as a 20-year-old college student, I would probably use an iPhone more for things such as obsessively checking my Facebook and less for an application that allows me to re-watch a lecture that was boring enough the first time around.

Overall as a society, we rely too heavily on technology and although journalists do need to be familiar with its advancements, 18-year-old college freshmen should still be accustomed to physically attending lectures and perfecting the skill of taking notes -- remember notebooks and ball-point pens?