Has iTunes U finally arrived?
Sep 10th, 2009 by Bryan
Apple has quietly been putting together one of the best resources for higher education on the web, their collection of university sponsored and uploaded content called iTunes U. I have bragged on it a couple of times, as have many other bloggers. The new iTunes 9 software, however, is a game-changer. For the first time, users can manage the iTunes U content on their iPods separately, as they have long been able to manage podcasts, videos, etc.
Notice the screenshots below. One can manage settings for iTunes U in general, or for individual subscriptions. In the settings within the iPod, one can choose to sync all items, all new items, or some number of the newest or the least new items. That last bit is something that used to bug me before they fixed it. Even with normal podcasts, often I don’t want to hear the most recent unplayed items, I want to start from the beginning and work my way forward.
This new functionality is in addition to an important change made in the iPhone 3.0 software, the ability to download and manage iTunes U content directly on one’s iPhone or iPod Touch.
Here is Apple’s introductory page for iTunes U, and here is a page spotlighting new iTunes U content.
I am currently working through ways to put some of my course material online in a publicly accessible way, and these new developments have convinced me that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel (i.e., create my own website), administer a complex CMS (i.e., Drupal) or put up with clunky hidden gardens (i.e., Moodle). The extra piece that Drupal or Moodle gives you is the conversation and feedback, but there are plenty of dedicated forum and commenting systems that are relatively easy to setup and can be used alongside the iTunes delivery mechanism.
An important objection is that this system ties people to Apple’s software, music players, and handheld devices. Yes and no. First, one can view all of this material on the computer in iTunes, and so is not required to buy an iPod. For watching or listening on the go, an iPod is necessary, but I am willing to accept the limiting nature of that in exchange for Apple’s market penetration. [I would not have said this 5 years ago, but I am getting more practical-minded in my old age. Am I selling out, my young firebrand friends?]
Schools that are not already on iTunes U (hello, Furman?) need to look into it as soon as possible. Browse through the Duke University offerings (one of the first schools to embrace iTunes U a few years ago) to see the possibilities. In addition to courses, lectures, and dialogues, they feature at least one podcast (Mark Goodacre’s excellent NTPod) and student generated content associated with particular campus organizations.
On the religion/Bible front, there is some good content on there, but the conservative schools (RTS, Fuller, Dallas Theological) seem to have a big head start. I love that they are on there, don’t get me wrong, but let’s get more full courses from Duke Divinity, Candler, and, yes, Furman to balance the spectrum a bit.
Finally, I am not going to rehearse my arguments for putting scholarship online, but I will reiterate a bottom-line point: this is an amazing marketing opportunity for universities and individual scholars. The days of the “public intellectual” are gone; let’s have public academia!
[UPDATE: See this post about iTunes U management on the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is an integral piece of the puzzle.]
[...] Comments « Has iTunes U finally arrived? [...]
I love iTunesU, but I think it has a ways to go before it arrives, at least for learners outside of a university context. There are no controls. It is supposed to be iTunes “university,” but when you go on there institutions have posted chapel messages and devotionals. Eventually you may have to wade through a whole lot of useless stuff to find resources that are value.
I agree with you that the content is uneven, Jeremy. As I said, most of the Bible stuff is from Reformed Theological Seminar and Fuller, which needs to be balanced with stuff from other sides. The value of iTunes U is ultimately up to the institutions who create content, just as iTunes Music is only as good as the recording industry. (On that point, the best thing iTunes ever did was open itself to CD Baby and other independent artists, which did a lot to free music from the tyranny of the labels.)
My basic point is that iTune U is a platform, and an incredibly powerful and potentially useful one. I actually don’t mind the chapel sermons, etc., because part of the point is for people to connect with the universities, and chapel sermons are a part of university life at some schools. There is more to academia than just classroom content, and I don’t mind having some better preaching available than what you usually find on the internet.
Thanks for the comment!
“Hello, Furman”?
Bryan, my understanding is that Furman does have an iTunesU account, and that account is administered out of the Marketing Department (I believe this set-up pre-dates my arrival on campus a year ago.) Perhaps if you called Ryan Fisher he could give you more info about where they are with providing support for your content.
Regards,
Fred
Thanks for the comment, Fred. I searched for Furman in the iTunes store and didn’t come up with anything (other than Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, a worthy band). I know that a few professors have made podcasts for their courses distributed with RSS, but I don’t see any official FU presence in the iTunes store itself.
Maybe this would be a good topic for the Academic Computing Committee.
Bryan,
An update on Furman’s iTunesU site…
Wade Shepherd is now assembling content for the Furman iTunesU site. If you know of faculty that would like to contribute that would be helpful. We now have approved graphics, and expect to request that Apple list the site once we have more content (and required metadata.) My understanding is that Apple is fairly strict about their listing requirements, and few institutions get listed on their first submission. However, we’re hopeful that the Furman iTunesU site will be listed this semester.