Soon, your professor might be the one listening to an iPod during class.

This fall, the Mobile Learning Initiative is offering 20 faculty members the opportunity to use 15-inch MacBook Pros, eight GB iPod Touches, 500 GB external hard drives and iLife and iWork software in their classrooms. The program is being offered through the College of Education. Other departments can apply for the equipment by Sept. 8 by submitting a one-page proposal, which indicates how the technology will be used to improve teacher instruction.

Adam Poetzel, clinical assistant professor in Education, is listed as a 2009-2010 participant in the project. He said the technology allows students to get the most out of their education since it enhances teaching in the classroom.

“It entails trying to get instructors up-to-date with modern technology,” Poetzel said. “It’s a matter of keeping the education as innovative as possible.”

Evangeline Pianfetti, director of the Office of Education Technology, spearheaded the Mobile Learning Initiative. She said it is an innovative way to integrate technology into the classroom, enhance what the students are learning and to best use the resources that students have available to them.

Pianfetti said she encourages the initiative forward for the benefit of the students, as well as the faculty.

“I believe in it,” Pianfetti said. “We would be doing a disservice to faculty and students if we didn’t look at utilizing technology and utilizing ideas to provide the best type of learning environment.”

She added that the initiative is the “little beacon that keeps us innovating,” and that students do not want a 19th century education.

Poetzel said that after instructors applied last year for the products and wrote their proposals, the accepted instructors were trained on how to use the technology. This year, phase II of the initiative involves a second faculty group repeating the process.

Poetzel added that learning for students does not stop with the sound of the bell. With content being delivered beyond the classroom, technology provides more time for interaction in class.

Abby Klager, senior in LAS, is surrounded by technology in her online organic chemistry course. The class is made up of “Web casts,” or pre-recorded lectures; a program called ACE Organic, consisting of practice problems, quizzes and exams; and Elluminate, which facilitates online discussion through teleconferencing technology. All required elements of the class are held entirely online, but supplemental instruction may be provided in person.

“I actually was really skeptical (about the online class), but I think it works really well,” Klager said. “You are allowed to use the internet — you figure out what resources are available to you and you pick up problem solving strategies.”

Online homework has its advantages, Klager added, such as knowing whether an answer is correct immediately and keeping homework more organized.

However, Klager said she had some concerns about the use of technology for class instruction. She said students who were not motivated to use technology would “suffer a little bit more because they’ll ignore it.”

Klager said she thought some subjects, such as math and science, are better for online courses than others, because the course topic affects how well the technology is integrated into the class.

“Students who are motivated to use the technology do benefit from this,” Klager said.