Last
Fall, Stanford University began a partnership with Apple to publish and host lectures for download via the iTunes
Store. Called Stanford on iTunes, it's been a resounding success and now
Apple is looking to replicate that success with other schools around the country and world.iTunes U. (for University) will be a partnership between Apple and schools for hosting and distributing audio and video lectures, podcasts, and vidcasts to their student bodies. Modeled after the Stanford on iTunes program, iTunes U. will be a free service and allow a school to create an environment for instructors to upload their audio and video podcasts for distribution to their student bodies.
It will likely incorporate some of what Apple has been calling Quicktime 2 RSS, a set of tools for recording a lecture and then encoding it for playback on a computer or an iPod.
iTunes U. is looking like a powerful way to expand how students get content. We're living in an increasingly digital world, we may as well embrace learning digitally, and it's good to see Apple take the lead in providing the tools, the hosting, and the technology to allow such a shift to happen. I'm definitely going to be lobbying for my employer (a university) to get involved in this program.
I've been complaining that Apple hasn't been as competitive as they should be in the Education market for some time. Perhaps this is a sign that the times are a-changing. Truly interesting.
If any TUAW readers have used the Stanford pilot program, we'd definitely be interested in your impression of the system.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-24-2006 @ 7:54PM
Christian said...
I'm thinking this DRAFT shouldn't be in the RSS feed. Editors?
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1-24-2006 @ 8:47PM
Gary King said...
Are the University pages for each university available publicly? Via iTMS homepage? Also, the Stanford University programs really rock. I absolutely love it; non-students, such as myself, can tune in to what's going on in there. It's fantastic!
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1-24-2006 @ 9:09PM
Damien Barrett said...
My understanding is that each school's iTunes U. will be behind an authenticated log-in. As virtually every school already uses some type of authentication for access to their resources, it shouldn't be too difficult to integrate an iTunes U. into the existing system(s), whether it's LDAP, Active Directory, or what-have-you. Apple already does something similar with access to the Apple Online Store.
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1-24-2006 @ 9:40PM
starwxrwx said...
I think this is a very cool idea, maybe my uni results would have been improved if the 9am lectures I kept missing had a vidcast I could subscribe to.
There is a startup company at my university that has put together a recording/distribution software/hardware solution for universities that (I assume) does essentially the same thing (for some reason the electrical engineering department is less technogloically pro-active than say, arts. maybe coz arts students never turn up ;P either way we nevr used the system) But I think where the killer feature is in using RSS feeds and being able to subscribe to them via, say, iTunes, and automagically filling up your pod with your lectures while being at the beach :)
Apple has the muscle to shut out small companies trying to get into the education market (a bit of a pity) simply because they offer such an easy distribution mechanism if they make hosting deals on the iTms.
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1-24-2006 @ 9:41PM
Reytacular said...
I saw Intel iMacs today at UCLA like 6 of them and lots of Apple propaganda around the UCLA student store.
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1-24-2006 @ 10:02PM
JOn Sibley said...
I hope its available by students only. If not then, all we will be paying for then is just a "Name".
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1-25-2006 @ 12:33AM
Eric E said...
I go to Drexel University in Philadelphia and we have a bunch of classes podcasted here through itunes. I believe Drexel and Stanford were the first two universities to offer free ipods to incomming students back when the ipod photos came out.
Personally, I'll take my courses through itunes any day, it beats having to show up at a lecture. It just sucks when you let everything go until the last minute and you have 29 hours of back to back organic chemistry lectures to sit through the week of the final. I've learned from experience.
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1-25-2006 @ 12:50AM
Mac Diva said...
Paying for? The educational program is free.
The financial angle for Apple will be more publicity for iTMS and the iPod. Also, when Sam the Student drops by iTMS for educational podcasts, he may also download paid content. Real, eMusic, etc., will not be able to compete with iTMS in attracting his attention.
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1-25-2006 @ 8:52AM
theun4gven said...
Mac Diva: I believe "paying for" was refering to the education, not the iTunes U. content. Jon was saying that if everyone can freely access the courses, then the actual college student is now just paying for the name on the diploma and not the education required to get it.
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1-25-2006 @ 1:59PM
Mac Diva said...
An education via podcasts? Nah. Thorough education usually requires interaction and hands-on experiences. Acccording to recent studies, many contemporary college students are graduating with really poor grasps of even basic subjects. Maybe another mechanism for learning will help.
If non-students want to check out some of the content, I don't see anything wrong with that. If they are willing to put their time into listening to or watching a lecture instead of doing something less thoughtful, great.
Steve Jobs dropped out of college after one semester, but hung around Reed for a while, auditing classes. It is lucky for us that he did not run into people with selfish attitude's who resented that, I guess.
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1-25-2006 @ 3:48PM
Brett Thomason said...
I actually started the first University Podcast over a year ago at the University of Central Florida, for the digital media department. At the time I met with alot of Apple executives who have credited me with starting the first education podcasts, since then it has totally blown up and there are alot of schools participating in it this now. I gave a lecture as well that Apple sponsd. explaining why this is a good thing, kind of hard to get teachers heads around the idea. Awsome!
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1-25-2006 @ 11:40PM
S said...
"iTunes U"?????
Now that Apple is selling all kinds of digital content, not just music, but videos, and perhaps soon books, etc, the term "tunes" no longer conveys what the store is about.
I have a domain for sale that Apple should grab ASAP before its competitors do:
www.unilibrary.com
Apple's Unilibrary sounds much better.
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1-28-2006 @ 3:45AM
buy-proxy said...
Actually, iTunes could stay on as a name, if we just think of it as the application you use to Tune into various different media types.
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2-03-2006 @ 2:44PM
Pauley Chronopolos said...
Man, Apple always does this for the rich kids @ Stanford...
I would like to see programs like this at san jose state too.
PC
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3-01-2006 @ 3:27PM
Beverly Benfer said...
Mr. Chronopolos sayd "Man, Apple always does this for the rich kids @ Stanford... I would like to see programs like this at san jose state too."
I understand what you are saying, but let's look at this another way. Who usually has sufficient staff and funds to pilot new programs? The schools like Stanford, Duke, and Drexel are often in a better financial position to try these initiatives first. Now Apple is working with a number of smaller, much less financially-endowed schools like state universities and even the community college where I work. Is San Jose asking to be part of this initiative?
- - Beverly
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3-01-2006 @ 5:26PM
Pauley Chronopolos said...
Ms Benfer,
You have made my point for me.
Stanford didnt go solicit Apple for this program, who are we kidding, Apple solicited Stanford.
Apple first invites schools like Stanford to participate in programs like these because there are a lot more Stanford alumni at Apple who want their school to benefit from programs like this.
Then schools like SJSU have to get in line.
I have worked at a few colleges too and I know how it works.
PC-
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3-16-2006 @ 6:49PM
rob reeves said...
from the SJSU.edu site:
San Jos?tate University has been asked to participate in iTunes U, Apple's new innovative offering to higher education campuses. Apple will be providing San Jos?tate University the opportunity to host audio, enhanced audio and video Podcasts on Apple's servers so that they are accessible from the iTunes music store. A preview can be found here: itunes.stanford.edu.
If you are interested in producing content that will be published as a podcast in iTunes U, please come to a meeting on Monday, March 13 at 1 p.m. in IRC 210. Questions? Contact Mary Fran Breiling at 408-924-3064.
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3-19-2006 @ 8:47PM
Dorothy Mikuska said...
iPods are used not for only music and podcasting lectures. Using PaperToolsPro installed on an iPod connected to any computer at any library students can take notes, cite sources, create bibliographies in 5 majors styles, organize information into an outline and rough draft, and avoid plagiarism. Students now can write research papers with ease, rigor, and integrity. Copies available from www.PaperToolsPro.com.
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