So it seems like every time I step outside, I am smacked across the head with a new technological advance. My laptop has been outdated for about 5 years and counting. I don’t even own an I-pod. I still use email, but the younger folks, say our students, for instance, will tell us that texting is much faster and is the preferred method of communication these days. Email is just too slow and awkward. Texting? My fingers must be too large because I can’t use my little cell phone keyboard to actually write a message. I wonder if our younger generation’s evolution will include smaller digits that can actually maneuver their keypads in a more efficient manner.

But this doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to my technological surroundings. I am well aware of the incredible ease of information and idea-sharing that occurs now because of the fantastically cool portable devices, like the Ipod or the Iphone. I am also aware that most of our students are more concerned with the latest Play Station 3 game than they are about getting outside and playing with odonates in the sediments of our local marshes. I am also aware that these kids have been tagged as the “Video Game Generation” or the generation with little to no attention span.

So what is an Environmental Biology instructor supposed to do? Well, of course! I decided to leave my comfort zone of just knowing enough to get by, and yes, jump headfirst in and join the younger generation by learning about their little gadgets and bundles of entertaining joy! Universities across the nation are using the Ipod in the classroom (if you don’t believe me, check out Duke University’s Digital Initiative: http://www.duke.edu/ddi/). So I decided to do the same. I am making it a point to use the same devices my students are using for their entertainment purposes as a teaching tool in the classroom.

My syllabus is largely activity-based. My students are engaged in active learning techniques, like hands-on field data collection labs, campus Nature tours, projects, and off-campus field trips to regional sites displaying the amazing assortment of Southwest Florida natural habitats. These sorts of activities leave little time for me to regurgitate the textbook to them in a formal lecture-type atmosphere. Because of this, and thinking it might be unfair to not provide the students with some sort of study aid, I am now recording lectures in the comfort of my house using a digital voice recorder. This newly-created audio file is then converted to mp3 format. At this time, it is sent out and becomes available to my students via an RSS subscription on I-tunes (and is called a podcast). This is a free service, they can access it anywhere, and can download my lectures to their Ipods or home computers.

Instead of only being able to listen to me in the classroom once a week with their eyes closed and heads nodding-off with sheer boredom, they now have access to my lectures outside of the classroom, and can listen to my stimulating discussions about human impacts on the local environment anywhere they choose. They could potentially hike into a pineland, curl-up in a cozy spot and be “one” with the very habitat I am talking about through their Ipod’s headphones. Or, they could listen to me talk about mangrove forests while they tirelessly burn calories on the treadmill. You get the point: they now have access to me anytime, anywhere and can use my audio lectures, or podcasts, on their Ipods however they choose.

Later in the semester, the students will be involved in a project that requires them to research the ecology of a specific habitat, speculate on local anthropogenic influences on that habitat, and discuss the implications of topics like global warming and sea level rise. These same students will then prepare a script and record a podcast of their own. These student-created podcasts will be shared with science teachers at local high schools and middle schools. The projects my students are conducting in class will then be used as teaching aids for the younger students, not quite old enough for the college ranks, but well aware of how to download a podcast from Itunes!

This is a prototype semester and I have visions of greatness to come. I look forward to sharing my ideas with those of you who are interested. Perhaps our avatars could meet in Second Life and we could discuss it over a virtual cup of Starbuck’s coffee! What is Second Life and what is an avatar, you ask? Well, that is an entirely different technological head-smack altogether. Until then, happy podcasting!!!