“Following in the footsteps of institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, the University of Massachusetts is considering the creation of an online resource for “audio and video lectures, promotional materials and various e-materials,” said OIT’s Adviser for Technology Initiatives Michael Gilbert.

“We want to make education more accessible,” said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Jean Kim. “Not only for students but for other people as well.”

Gilbert is currently working with the Committee for Student and Academic Affairs (SAA) to assess the possibility of introducing UMass to the iTunes U system – a sub-section of the iTunes store that allows colleges and universities to upload electronic course content free of charge.

The system would allow students to get different perspectives on course material and show prospective students what UMass has to offer, according to SAA member Lily Fitzgerald. In addition, she said it would allow students who missed class to catch up and could make studying for exams easier.

The program would also allow students to preview a professor’s teaching style to ensure it is cohesive with their learning style, providing an alternative to RateMy Professors.com, where, according to Fitzgerald, “you have to take everything with a grain of salt.”

UMass students will soon be asked to take a survey aimed at demonstrating their desire – ensuring that students would use the resource if it existed, said Fitzgerald.

Funding is the biggest barrier standing in the way of realizing this goal, said SAA member Adam Baldarelli.

“UMass is looking into capturing video,” said Gilbert. “It is expensive and we would have to retrofit every classroom [with recording equipment].”

New classrooms are currently being built with this technology, according to Gilbert. Several rooms in the Isenberg School of Management as well as an experimental “problem solving room” in the library already have the technology built in, but the reset would need to be updated.

The money would come from the Dean of Students Office, said Baldarelli. Dean of Students Enku Gelaye was “concerned about funding because it is an academic program,” said Baldarelli.

Although Apple provides free storage space and bandwidth for iTunes U, “iTunes is deceptively easy,” said Gilbert. “The development of a digital presence requires time, people and money.”

Implementing and maintaining a system like this would require employee’s to film lectures and maintain quality control, said Gilbert. He was unable to provide a cost estimate because the details of the plan have not been finalized.

SAA is currently considering plans to offset the costs of implementation, but no decisions have been finalized. One such plan would offer internship credit to students that sign up for film classes, said Baldarelli.

Similar in concept, MIT’s OpenCourseWare system requires an investment of $10,000 to $15,000 per-course, according to the resource’s website. It costs $3.5 million annually.

OpenCourseWare debuted in 2002 with 50 courses and has since grown to include “virtually all MIT course content” free to the public.

Although similar in effect, OpenCourseWare and iTunes U are quite different in function.

On the difference, UMass Communications professor Sut Jhally said, “iTunes U is a good deal because apple pays for bandwidth.” OpenCourseWare is hosted and maintained solely by MIT.

Jhally participated in a pilot program several years ago to test the iTunes U system at UMass. He was an ideal candidate because he had already been posting course lectures and material online.

Through post-course evaluations Jhally has determined that about 18 percent of his students choose to use iTunes U. He also provides a separate online resource for his students that allow for streaming video as opposed to the iTunes download based approach.

He has used it for two of his classes so far and said that he is happy with the functionality.

“I like to give students both options,” said Jhally. “Some like to have [course material] downloaded and available independent of a website.”

Though the service is free, Jhally noted that Apple also hopes to get something out of the deal. After attending Apple’s original pitch to UMass, Jhally noted that “they thought it would lead to iPod sales.”

“It’s marketing. This is their way of hooking people into it,” he said.

“iTunes U is just one avenue to look at,” said Gilbert. “It’s not about iTunes. It’s about the future of delivering digital course material on campus,” said Gilbert.

Kim has cosponsored a program to bring a system to UMass based off of the MIT OpenCourseWare project. According to her there is a grant available for UMass professors to work towards this goal.

Recording lectures and putting course material online “forces professors to become better teachers,” said Kim. It also provides “open access to education” and helps “students to become better learners.”

It is important to note that participation in such a program would be voluntary for professors.

“This is a great example of students working with the administration to get benefits for the entire campus community,” said Baldarelli. “It is an ongoing process that ACC has every intention of pushing forward.”

Zachary Weishar can be reached at [email protected].