iTunes U For iOS Devices Expands Educational Opportunities

Today in the second part of its education-focused media event Apple turned attention to iTunes U, free podcast section of the iTunes Store. Eddy Cue announced that more than 1,000 universities are using iTunes U, and its content was downloaded over 700 million times to date.

The new iTunes U program turns iTunes U from video and audio lectures to a full-blown learning app, providing non-traditional students access to large amounts of free content and what is more importantly for Apple, allowing schools to use iTunes U as an educational platform.

“The all-new iTunes U app lets teachers create and manage courses including essential components such as lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and syllabuses and offer them to millions of iOS users around the world”.

Courses are created with the help of web-based iTunes U Course Manager, which allows teachers to create a course that includes handouts, quizzes, syllabus and other items. Apple hosts course materials that available to anyone who takes the course, but it appears that schools can restrict access to their courses only to their students.

iTunes U includes over 100 courses optimized for iOS devices with more coming soon. A quick perusal of the available content shows classes from MIT, Duke, Stanford and Yale – including well-regarded iPad and iPhone App Development course by Paul Hegarty.

“iTunes U lets you take a complete course on your iPad. View the course overview, instructor biography, and course outline. Read posts and keep track of your completed assignments. Watch videos directly within the app, read books, and view all your course notes in one place. Receive push notifications alerting you to new posts from the instructor. And iCloud keeps your notes, highlights, and bookmarks up to date on all your devices”.

iTunes U is a free app for iPad and iPhone available for download on the App Store.