Tessa Duvall said she didn’t buy her iPhone in order to use it as a reporting tool.

But the Bowling Green freshman said she’s seen how the phone’s multimedia capabilities can come in handy for journalists.

And Duvall isn’t the only one in the School of Journalism and Broadcasting who will be seeing more of the iPhone.

About 15 journalism faculty members have been given iPhones to use in the classroom, said Pam Johnson, director of the school.

Sara Shipley Hiles, a freelance journalist and part-time journalism professor, said she’s used her new iPhone as a reporting tool and has carried what she’s learned into the classroom.

Kerry Northrup, a journalism professional-in-residence, led a podcasting workshop in Hiles’ Introduction to Media Writing class last week.

Hiles encouraged the students who have their own iPhones to bring them to class to record conversations they would later upload and edit.

Northrup told the class that iPhones and similar mobile devices can be helpful for capturing a story on the spot.

“A story is a story, and you don’t want to let it get away,” he said.

Duvall and Cody Eakles, also a Bowling Green freshman, used their iPhones in Hiles’ class.

Duvall said she bought her phone in July, while Eakles’ phone is barely a week old.

The iPhone 3GS, the newest iPhone model, features a 3-megapixel camera, video and voice recording and access to high-speed Internet, according to the Apple Store Web site.

Eakles called the iPhone a “quick, streamlined reporting tool.”

But some schools are going further than Western when it comes to using iPhones in the classroom.

The Current, the student newspaper for the University of Missouri-St. Louis, reported that freshmen majoring in journalism or pre-journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia are required to have a “Web-enabled audio-video player.”

University officials said the requirement is best met by Apple’s iTouch or iPhone, the Current reported.

Duvall said she thought introducing a similar policy at Western would likely be met with student backlash, mainly over cost.

A 16-gigabyte iPhone 3GS is $199 with a new two-year AT&T rate plan, which is sold separately, according to the Apple Web site.

Duvall also pays $30 a month for the media package to support her phone, she said.

Hiles, who is enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Missouri, said the requirements are controversial there.

It’s important to be mindful of the expense to students, she said.