Peer Review

Teaching and Education on iTunes U

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Reviewed:: Jun 26, 2010 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: The Teaching and Education area on iTunes U is filled with audio and video content from universities, educational organizations, and K-12 school districts. Materials in iTunesU are categorized into 13 content areas. Users may also search by education providers: K-12, college and university and beyond campus. Podcasts, movies and open courseware are available; most of them free.
Type of Material:: Collection/Reference Material All content can be downloaded. Videos are saved as MP4 files and audio files are saved as MP3.
Recommended Uses:: The Teaching and Education content on iTunes U can be used as supplimentary content in online and face-to-face courses. Teachers can play audio or video clips in class or link to them online. Many colleges and universities are represented on the site. Students may access tutorials and course materials. MIT offers Opencourseware for many online courses; users do not receive certification or course credit. Instructors may also use the tutorials and podcasts for further explanation and clarification, especially in online courses.
Technical Requirements:: QuickTime compatible audio card (7.6 or later) iTunes(downloaded free from site) Windows Hardware- A PC with a 1GHz Intel or AMD processor Intel Pentium D or faster processor Broadband Internet connection Windows XP 200MB of available disk space
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The learning goals would be developed by individual course instructors as needed. Users would become familiar with Apple iTunes.
Target Student Population:: iTunes U contains content for students of all ages.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Users may need to be shown how to use iTunes if they are not familiar with its interface.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: There is an incredible amount of free, high-quality content available in the Teaching and Education area of iTunes U. Universities such as Stanford are represented, as well as educational organizations such as Edutopia.
Concerns:: Users should be familiar with iTunes and shortcuts for narrowing their search. At the time of this review, there were approximately 560 resources provided in the category of Teaching and Education. Further exploration provided quality content under colleges and universities.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: Teachers have a lot of content to chose from. Much of the content has been organized into sections. Other topics can be found with searches. All content is free to be used in another course. The potential effectiveness of iTunes U is immeasurable. Students and instructors may use any number of digital devices to view and deliver course content.
Concerns:: None.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Students are very familiar with iTunes so they are quite comfortable going there to download content. Instructors can also link to content within iTunes U from within an LMS or website.
Concerns:: Unfamiliarity with Apple, Quicktime and iTunes required much time to download and view tutorials. Instructors may be less familiar with iTunes U but can quickly be brought up to speed with minimal training.

Other Issues and Comments:: Most of the material in the iTunes University was free; but some products, materials and subscriptions cost money, which might be disadvantageous to students.
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