Editorial:

iPhone requirement premature

Faculty must find ways to implement iPhone in classrooms.

Published June 3, 2009

Four weeks ago, the School of Journalism's plans to list an iPhone or iPod touch as a required technology for its courses hit a wider audience than the several hundreds of incoming journalism or pre-journalism freshmen. Since then, the program has been put to scrutiny by a variety of sources -- from the Missouri Students Association to media and journalism blogs, and eventually, long past when was appropriate, the very faculty who would be responsible for integrating these devices with their courses.

In that time, the school's associate dean for undergraduate studies, Brian Brooks, has defended the program as a way for students to get more out of historically single-serving lectures -- which it is.

But there are other ways of revisiting lectures. Putting lecture videos on Blackboard or in an iTunes-useable format would not require a specific operating system, and the libraries and Memorial Union rent out laptops students could use.

Brooks says the school doesn't receive any kickbacks for recommending Apple products so highly, but every time a student purchases the Neff Hall-approved bundle, complete with iLife and the Microsoft Office suite, Tiger Tech benefits. In fact, these products are all available online or at Columbia's other Apple product retailer. The programs necessary to succeed in journalism courses -- Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite -- all are available for Windows, or found in any of the computer labs on campus.

The school lists the iPod touch as a requirement because then it can be claimed as such on financial aid documents. But that logic ignores the fact that most financial aid is loans that must be paid back, not scholarships and other "free money." Students will be paying for that iPod someday, but with an interest rate. And the scholarships and grants that would actually offer a students a free iPod are backed by money from taxpayers and MU donors -- who would, we suspect, rather see that money go to actual academia.

The school should have done a pilot program for the iPods to develop specific ways they could be used. It's not too late to have a honors Freshman Interest Group help develop a program that can then go before the entire class, even.

But faculty members are responsible for coming up with guidelines for when iPod touch use is acceptable in class and when it is not, and how they will supplement in-class exercises with the technology.

And since the entire class will be jumping in earbuds-first, they should hold their professors accountable for implementing engaging uses for iPods that can't be replaced by a laptop. That's the true test of this initiative. We'll be watching.