The experience acquired by the UT Arlington Engineering Podcasting Project to expand the Internet-based educational programs is applicable to a broad range of knowledge management initiatives and requirements. This innovative approach of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington enables undergraduate engineering class lectures to be broadcast to a much larger audience with a minimum of impact on the instructors existing teaching methods. The purpose is to enable students to review video and audio recordings of classroom lectures on their iPods or computers. The objectives are to improve recruitment of engineering students to UT Arlington, to improve student performance by increasing comprehension and knowledge retention, and to improve classroom instructional methods. Pilot studies were started Fall 2006, leveraging the classroom recordings that are made in the Distance Educations classrooms using TV technology recording. These recordings were published for the students in the on-campus lecture class in two digital formats: (a) streaming video on the internet for computers; and (b) files for downloading and viewing on iPods. This proved to be successful both technically and with the students. Three different digital recording approaches were evaluated to expand the concept beyond the TV studio classrooms to any classroom used for engineering undergraduate classes that: (a) did not require an operator, (b) could be operated by professors easily with minimal training and impact to their teaching, and (c) imposed reasonable costs per classroom. The system design is described for the Phase I implementation that will be completed for the Fall 2007 semester.

Internet - based learning, including podcasting and the techniques used to digitally capture and distribute classroom lectures, are applicable to many venues and initiatives in academia, private industry, and government, as well as partnerships involving all three. The evolution of technologies and methods – based initially on university programs such as the UT Arlington distance learning approach – will ultimately benefit innovators in many sectors, while continuing reductions in the cost of digital technology will generate an ever-expanding number of applications.