“It’s competing with some of the traditional learning management systems that have been around a number of years,” said John Flores, executive director of the Boston-based US Distance Learning Association, who has not seen major movement to iTunes U. It is unclear how many other schools are moving to take advantage of the new app, which faces challenges in gaining wide acceptance. Six schools have already placed a total of about 100 courses on iTunes U, including MIT, Yale, Stanford and Duke. The expansion was announced in January to allow professors time to gather and put together material for courses starting in the fall. “The all-new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world’s most prestigious universities,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice-president of Internet Software and Services. There have been 700 million downloads, according to the company. Although the application is free, the courses can be accessed only on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, Apple products whose prices may be unaffordable for college students with limited financial resources.Ĭreated in 2007, iTunes U is touted by Apple as “the world’s largest catalog of free educational content,” including lectures by distinguished professors at Harvard and Stanford universities, for example. So far, though, not many colleges and universities are rushing to drop the platforms they already use for online learning and adopt the new application from the technology heavyweight.Īpple bills the expanded iTunes U as “an entire course in one app,” with the capacity to accommodate lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and syllabi. In keeping with Steve Jobs’ vision of transforming education, Apple has expanded its iTunes U so that professors can now offer entire courses, not just lectures.
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