K-12 introductory tour of iTunes U
February 15, 2012 
2 Comments
iTunes U is a service originating at Higher Ed that has since trickled down to K-12 schools. Once I started playing around with the services, I found the mechanisms we already have in place work very well for building a content creation and sharing environment. I was really excited to see iTunes U and build a sample class since it starts a framework of a great way to develop both self-paced and time-based classes for professional development.
Since I had experience with a hybrid class structure for graduate school, I was familiar with the tools and structure needed to build and develop online learning. As more iPads and other iOS based devices are working their way into schools, finding tools that help with building a course into mobile devices that is easy to access becomes important. This video talks a bit about content creation processes, an intro to the components of iTunes Public Site Manager, a tour of a sample class built with iTunes Course Manager, managing content such as images, presentations, PDFs, web-links, and iTunes store content, as well as a look into the iOS app with a sample class containing various content.
(Note – the first 6 min or so contain no image only audio)
If you are interested more in the iTunes U aspect of the video, skip to 5:45, as the first bit of the video talks about how content management process design.
Wow! Really comprehensive…thank you!
I am going to forward to our tech director. Very informational…I think it is a great way to get into this.
Thanks Leah. Playing with iTunes U, I saw some real great things that can be done, especially for staff development since I’m a bit more focused on that than the classroom experience with students. Being able to build-out learning modules and include all the necessary resources is a very useful tool.
I’m trying to think of a somewhat short but understandable topic I can do with this to create a nice sample class.
I think this will really take off once more textbooks are published to the iBooks store. If I can be of any other help, let me know.