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iTunes U on iPad will let teachers create courses and take your questions
Right now, iTunes U on the iPad isn't a complete educational tool. You can read textbooks, but not much else -- you still need to use old-fashioned email to ask the teacher a question, for example. It's going to be much more useful on July 8th, when Apple releases a major overhaul to the app. The new iTunes U lets teachers create and manage courses entirely from the iPad, plucking source material from other apps and even the device's camera. Students, meanwhile, get some much-needed interaction -- you can now ask questions from the app, or join in class discussions.
Apple updates iTunes U app with fixes, pull to refresh
Apple has issued a small update to its iTunes U app. The app allows users to access popular courses from major universities and also offers other free education classes from third-party sources. While a majority of the latest iTunes U update is dedicated to bug fixes, a welcome new feature is that iTunes U now uses the popular pull-to-refresh gesture to check for new course updates. Here's everything the release notes is new to the latest release: Checks for course updates when you pull to refresh the notepad. Resolves an issue that may prevent courses from updating. Fixes a problem where iTunes U may unexpectedly quit when opening the Catalog repeatedly. Improves support for Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Spanish. iTunes U is a free download.
Daily Update for February 28, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
iTunes U tops 1 billion downloads
One part of iTunes that many people overlook is iTunes U. Though consumers may not be aware of the educational resources available on iTunes U, educators and students have taken notice. According to Apple, iTunes U student rolls have exceeded 250,000 and its content has now topped 1 billion downloads. iTunes U is a section of iTunes that is used by thousands of universities and K-12 schools worldwide to offer both public and private courses. Courses include lectures, assignments, books and quizzes that are accessible on iOS devices. Leading the way on iTunes U is Stanford University and The Open University, each of which has surpassed 60 million content downloads. You can read more about iTunes U and its influence on global online learning in the press release on Apple's website.
iTunes U content downloads pass the one billion mark
Apple completely revamped its iTunes U app last year to include full course materials and it looks like that work is paying off, as the company just trumpeted its billionth content download. Over 250,000 students are enrolled in the service, which now boasts "thousands" of iTunes U learning materials, according to Cupertino. The company added that 60 percent of those downloads came from outside the US, with educators in 30 different countries -- like recent additions Brazil and Turkey -- able to create content. OHU prof "Dr. Fus" Stoltzfus said that students using his materials range from students around the world to retirees, so if you've been thinking of a knowledge upgrade, you've got no excuse. For more, check the PR after the break.
Stanford offers free iOS app development course on iTune U again
Stanford is offering its online iOS App development course starting this month, according to a report in MacRumors. Coding Together: Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad is one of the most popular courses on iTunes U and its latest version steps students through iOS 6 development. The course uses iTunes U to deliver the course lecture videos and the Piazza social learning platform for student collaboration. Piazza is used in Stanford's campus-based course and is new to the online course. The free iOS course starts January 22 and runs through March 28. Registration ends on February 1st. Some coding experience is required.
Apple updates nearly every app for iOS 6, sneaks in key GarageBand, iPhoto and Podcasts updates
If you didn't already know that iOS 6 was out in the wild, Apple just delivered a torrent of mobile app updates to make it perfectly clear. Virtually every app that isn't preloaded now has explicit iOS 6 support to keep it running smoothly, and some of the upgrades are thankfully more than just skin-deep compatibility tweaks. Among the highlights are Podcasts' new subscription list syncing through iCloud, ringtone creation with GarageBand and iPhoto support for 36.5-megapixel image editing on the latest devices -- you know, for that moment you need to tweak Nikon D800 photos on an iPhone 5. We're including direct links to a few of the juicier updates, but we'd recommend checking AppleInsider's comprehensive list to see everything that you're missing.
iTunes U opens up limited accounts to K-12 teachers
During its Q3 2012 earnings conference call, Apple revealed that the quarter was its best yet for educational sales of the Mac and the iPad. To capitalize on this expansion into education, Apple updated iTunes U and now allows K-12 teachers to create private courses for their students. Previously, teachers could add their lectures to Apple's repository, but only if their school or institution was enrolled in the iTunes U program. Now, all K-12 teachers can sign in with their Apple ID and create private courses using the free iTunes Course Manager web app. Public courses, however, still require school or institution enrollment. Teachers can add traditional course material like a syllabus, handouts, and quizzes. They can also add audio and video recordings of their lectures and point to reference material that's available in the iBookstore, App Store and iTunes. The app is solely for disseminating course content and not management as there is no grading or attendance features built into the app. Teacher can send a code or the URL of the course to students, who can enroll in the course and access content via the iTunes U app on the iPad and iPhone. They can read the course material and even take timestamped notes when listening to a lecture. Interested teachers can read more about iTunes U on Apple's website. [Via AllThingsD]
Apple updates some iOS apps for better Mountain Lion and iCloud compatibility
Mac apps aren't the only ones getting updates today. Apple has released updates to Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and iTunes U for iOS, improving compatibility with iCloud, according to a post on MacStories. Pages, Keynote and Numbers have all been updated to version 1.6.1. According to the update notes, the new apps work "with iCloud to make documents automatically available between your iOS device and [Pages/Keynote/Numbers] on your Mac. Changes you make to a document on one device are instantly available on the other." The update also requires that Pages 4.2, Numbers 2.2, and Keynote 5.2 be installed on your Mac. iTunes U 1.2 adds the ability to search from within posts, assignments, notes and materials for any subscribed course. There's also a new sharing sheet in iTunes U for sharing your favorite courses with friends via Twitter, Messages, and Mail. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad
Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly less high-profile education software was also treated a face-lift -- just without the fanfare. According to a report on CNET, prospective owners of Cupertino's latest tablet will get to download an upgraded version of iBooks 2 and iTunes U that take advantage of the new 2048 x 1536 9.7-inch screen. Aside from the visual tweaks, only iBooks 2 has been imbued with extra features, adding a touch-to-highlight function and a refined page search that unites both print and ebook layouts. You'll be able to check out the 264ppi panache for yourself when those slates ship out next week.
Samsung's Learning Hub demonstrates a commitment to education, profits
Samsung's R&D department has been working overtime as it strives to break the idea it copies wholesale ideas from its competition. Yesterday we heard word about its planned new cloud service and today it's announced that it'll be unveiling a unique education-focused app for Galaxy Tabs 8.9 and 10.1. Learning Hub will provide free materials from 30 major educational establishments from elementary schools through to universities, although there's no word on what certificates you'll be able to earn at the end of your course. The program will expand to other devices in the Galaxy family later on, once the company's done showing off the software at MWC.
iBooks Author sees 600,000 initial downloads, 3 million for iTunes U app
Apple announced on its quarterly earnings call this afternoon that iBooks Author had seen 600,000 downloads since its unveiling last week. The folks in Cupertino also mentioned that iTunes U has seen 3 million app downloads, feeling a bump from the announcement a few days ago. One other interesting tidbit: currently, 1.5 million iPads have been deployed in schools. We'd surmise that those numbers will continue to increase as iBooks 2 and iBook Author start to pound the pavement in the months ahead.
Apple publishes iTunes U support pages
Another piece of the Apple education puzzle has fallen into place. The company has published a set of special iTunes U support web pages to help with questions from users of the new iTunes U app, from teachers who are using the iTunes U Course Manager, and from administrators who use the iTunes U Public Site Manager. The iTunes U app support pages provide information on how to use the new app or access iTunes U through iTunes on Mac or PC. According to Apple, "iTunes U Course Manager is a web-based tool that allows instructors to create and distribute courses on iTunes U. Instructors at K12 school districts as well as colleges and universities whose institutions have an iTunes U site can get access to iTunes U Course Manager through their iTunes U Public Site Manager administrator." As you'd expect, the support pages for iTunes U Course Manager are quite a bit more detailed than those for the iTunes U app, and cover everything from creating an instructor profile to editing a course. Finally, the pages for iTunes U Public Site Manager (the tool that iTunes U site administrators use to manage their public content within the iTunes Store) cover the gamut from system requirements to marketing a public site and creating a properly-formatted feed. The new support pages are a good way for students, educators, and administrators seeking information about iTunes U to start getting answers from the source.
Colleges enthused as iTunes classes go live
There's a pretty high level of excitement flowing from Thursday's arrival of the iTunes U app. Harvard University is now adding its science + cooking lectures from its school of Engineering and Science for what will likely be an interesting public offering. Titles like 'Olive Oil and Viscosity' and 'Meat Glue Mania' sound intriguing. Anyone with an iPad or iPhone can use the app and access the free classes on iTunes U. Having this new standalone app should be a boon to users and educators. The Inside Higher Ed website is highlighting material from Harrisburg Community College, where there are free courses in differential equations and astronomy. It's the first iTunes U offering from a community college. Apple approached some major educational institutions last year to start preparing the courses, and the app contains content from places like Duke, Cornell and Yale universities. Older versions of iTunes U, introduced in 2006, offered audio and video podcasts, but this new app provides self-contained courses allowing users to download handouts and worksheets they can reference while listening to a recorded lecture.
Daily Update for January 19, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple's education announcement: what you need to know
Today's education event was a reasonably small one, so far as Apple pressers go, held at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, with a smattering of media representatives in attendance. It arrives on the tails of some already hearty numbers for the company, including the existence of 20,000 learning-themed apps and 1.5 million iPads currently in use for education. But Cupertino's plans for the future of learning are grand indeed, including the desire to "reinvent the textbook" via iBooks 2. And while our expectations weren't particularly grandiose going into this morning, we were, indeed, pretty impressed with what we saw. So, what did you miss if you happened to sleep in late today? Find out, after the break.
Apple iTunes U hands-on (video)
Would you like to make more money? Sure, we all would, and a great way to do that is to get a better education. There was a time when you had to go to schools or rely on shady mail-order diplomas. Now you can use your iPad and get the same thing with the new iTunes U app. It's an extension of the existing iTunes U service, which has been around for about four years despite few people knowing anything about it. This new apps should change that. Join us for a full exploration of why.
iTunes U graduates into separate iOS app
Announced today at Apple's education event, iTunes U -- a long-standing feature of the iTunes Store -- is now a separate application (universal) for iOS devices running iOS 5. Since 2006, iTunes U has been a way to electronically distribute class lectures. Both Berkeley and Stanford have released courses on iTunes U, as have many other schools. Now, the iTunes U app offers lectures from a wide variety of high-powered schools, plus more. Apple demonstrated a course overview, required credits, a syllabus, and office hours this morning. We also saw a place for posts from teachers so there's an easy way to update the class, and a spot where students can take notes. Tapping on an assignment automagically takes a student straight to the specific materials in iBooks, and there's even a task list for students to cross off items as they are completed. iTunes U is a free application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, available now.
Apple revamps iTunes U and intros dedicated app (video)
A facelift for iBooks wasn't the only change on Apple's agenda today, as the company's SVP Eddy Cue has just announced an overhaul of iTunes U. The service, mostly used as a means of delivering lectures to college students, has seen over 700 million downloads since its launch and is now gearing up to offer full online courses from the likes of Duke University, Yale, MIT, amongst others.As an example of this new remote method of learning, the company demoed a Chemistry course at its event, showing an overview, syllabus, credits and even the professor's office hours. Tabs are placed along the right side of page with options for Info, Posts, Notes and Materials, allowing teachers to send updates direct to the app and students the ability to jot down important highlights. Wondering about integration? A simple tap on these pushed assignments will transport students direct to iBooks, where their specific coursework lies in wait and, once completed, can be crossed off on the provided task list.The app can even be used for course registration, eliminating the frenzied rush typically associated with such events. It's all available to download on the App Store right now at no cost in 123 countries. So, if you're on Apple's participating list of schools and you're rocking an iPad, go ahead and get to virtually cracking those books.Update: We've got our hands-on video up of the new iTunes U application!
Apple announces Jan. 19 event at Guggenheim in NYC
Apple has sent out invitations to various media outlets, including The Loop, to attend an event centering on education at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on Jan. 19. The event is expected to focus on iTunes U and electronic textbooks and has been in the works since late September. At least two project announcements are expected, according to various rumors. Steve Jobs was reportedly intimately involved in the project prior to his death.
