Professor In Your Pocket; Now course casting lets college students skip classes and download lectures onto their iPods. Biology rocks! But some parents just don't understand.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 28-NOV-05

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Byline: Peg Tyre

When Duke University junior Eddy Leal took a research trip to Puerto Rico recently and missed his macroeconomics lecture, he didn't sweat it. The lecture is usually attended by about 75 students, so his professor was unlikely to notice his absence. He didn't worry about falling behind, either. When he returned from his trip, Leal went to a Web site specially designated for Duke students and downloaded the lecture (which the professor had recorded and uploaded using an iPod) onto his personal computer. In the relative tranquillity of his dorm, Leal learned about models of government surplus. "It isn't the same as being there," says Leal. But for the chance to go to Puerto Rico, it was close enough.

Could ivy-covered lecture halls become as obsolete as the typewriter? This fall, a dozen colleges across the country have introduced a controversial new teaching tool called course casting, aimed at supplementing--and in some cases replacing--large, impersonal lectures. Although it has been around for less than a year,...

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