Podcast Utilization by Turf Science Students.

New electronic learning technologies continue to emerge, while questions regarding their adoption and utilization remain. One such technology is the “podcast” or electronic audio segments available which are posted on the internet. Students can download these audio clips to their computer or portable personal audio devices and listen whenever and wherever they desire. These podcasts may be used to revisit a particular lecture, supplement a classroom discussion or in some cases students have created their own podcasts as class assignments to demonstrate mastery of course content. Since podcasts are a relatively new concept and student utilization uncertain, a survey of > 300 turfgrass science students from across the United States was conducted in Jan. 2007 and 2009. In 2007, nearly 70 % of students owned a portable audio device and knew what a podcast was.  Only 7% of students had downloaded a podcast while 14% felt that a podcast would be a suitable substitute for classroom lectures.