Eighty-five percent of college students nationwide can be seen traversing their campuses in a state of robotic serenity — brain linked ear to ear by cables plugged into a vessel the size of a credit card. Soon, these iPod devotees will be able to stroll across campus tuned in not only to music but also to class lectures, language lessons, or other academic programs.

This fall the University of Miami will join 100 other U.S. colleges and universities, including Stanford, Duke, and the University of Michigan, as part of Apple’s new program for higher education: iTunes University.

iTunes U is a free service whereby a student can visit an Internet site hosted by Apple and download recorded audio and video (MP3) files onto a page that reflects his or her own course schedule. MP3 files that contain course content, news, or other shows are known as “podcasts.” Students need only subscribe to an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) — similar to the real-time headlines streaming on news Web sites — and the podcasts for their courses will automatically download to their iPods when they connect them to their computers. Students who don’t have an iPod or other MP3 player can listen to or watch podcasts on their computers.

The frontrunner in podcasting at the University was the Miller School of Medicine, which began offering videotaped lectures in 2000. Then the school isolated the audio portion so students could “ride the Metrorail and do other things like walking the dog and exercising at the gym, and all they need is a pair of headphones and their iPod,” says Bill Vilberg, associate director of instructional advancement.

Podcast technology has evolved remarkably quickly since it first became available on the Web in September 2004. iTunes Music Store, the world’s largest content download store, now features 20,000 podcasts, 16,000 audiobooks, and 2 million songs.

President Donna E. Shalala, who has 500 songs on her iPod, notes that podcasting at the University “will increase dramatically in the next few years.” To integrate it into the curriculum, the Office of Instructional Advancement awarded grants to eight faculty members in various schools and colleges for “Enhanced Learning with Podcasts.” Many projects help students generate their own podcasts.