Imagine walking to class on a brisk Binghamton Monday morning listening to your new iPod — hands in jacket pockets, and a scarf wrapped tightly around your neck — except this time, something has changed. You aren’t bobbing your head to the beat of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” you are listening to an audio file of your professor’s lecture from the previous Wednesday, reviewing his crucial points of chapter seven, erased from memory over the weekend somewhere between that last beer at Sports Bar, and the claustrophobic cab ride back to campus.

This “lecture on the go” or “podcasting” may soon become a reality for BU students, as it already has for students on the campuses of Duke, American and Purdue universities.

“It is something we are exploring,” said James Wolf, director of Academic Computer Services at BU. “We are currently experimenting with technology where we are recording lectures in classrooms and then making the recordings available on Blackboard.”

Professors and students alike agree that “podcasting” could heighten the learning experience for students, but they also agree that there may be drawbacks as well.

“Podcasting is positive if controlled,” said accounting lecturer John Barden. “However, a professor’s facial expressions are important to the lecture, and you lose that when listening to a lecture on your iPod.”

But some students are skeptical of using podcasting in lieu of attending class.

“I definitely think podcasting is in BU’s future,” said sophomore managment major Holly Shapiro. “I personally could see myself benefiting from such a learning tool, but I can’t say the same for everyone else. A lot of students don’t absorb information well if they’re not in a learning setting such as a classroom.”

Though podcasting is not yet underway at BU, other forms of technology, from Blackboard and computer projection screens, to radio frequency response systems, have already been implemented on the BU campus to improve learning and teaching techniques.

“For the first time I am using a radio frequency response system where I can poll the class electronically during my lecture to see if they understand my teaching, whether I should move on, or if I need to rephrase a particular concept,” said Robert Pompi, associate professor of physics. “Many students are unwilling to raise their hands during a large lecture; this system allows them to speak up while remaining anonymous.”

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, but faculty members are optimistic that the traditional lecture model will never be replaced by computers and lecture audio files.

“Faculty will never disappear,” said Jeffrey Donahue, director of Educational Communications. “Professors certainly play a huge role in the teaching process regardless of the increased use of media to convey concepts to students.”

Barden’s students give him reason to agree.

“I poll my class every semester asking if they’d rather take my class online or in real time, and 98 percent of my students say real time,” he said. “Computers can’t replace the importance of interaction and communication between students and their instructor.”

It may not be long before students’ newest iTunes playlists read “Week Six Physics Lectures.” Until then, the seemingly old school model of listening to the professor and taking notes in Lecture Hall 1 may remain the key to academic success.

“What I am doing is more important than a movie or audio of me doing it,” said Pompi. “Technology should never be used for technology’s sake, but the application of technology to enhance learning, I am all for.”