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MUSC students get to the core of Apple’s iTunes U
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Last fall, Apple Computers Inc. began a partnership with Stanford University to publish and host lectures via Apple’s iTunes Store.
The partnership was such a hit that, after beta-testing at Stanford, Duke University and the University of Michigan, Apple decided to replicate its success with other schools around the country, including several schools in the Palmetto State.
The Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina are among 100 colleges and universities across the nation to be selected by Apple to join iTunes University.
Apple’s iTunes U is a free service that allows schools to create an environment for instructors to upload audio and video content from lectures, interviews, audio books and other material for distribution to students to use via their iPods or computers.
An implementation team at MUSC has already begun work to develop the service. USC and Clemson are currently reviewing the contract. All three schools expect to have implementation by the fall.
The program allows instructors to post and change content themselves, which means the iTunes program will not affect the IT staff. Students can also upload content to share with teachers and staff.
Mike Schmidt, professor of microbiology and immunology at MUSC, chairs the university committee that researched the iTunes U deal.
“We had already started doing podcasting for various activities,” he said. “And we knew the iTunes U program was tested at several places around the country. So when Apple announced they were opening the program to other schools, we made an application to be one of the select 100 to join iTunes U.”
The program can support any medium used for studies.
“Audio, video, Powerpoint, PDFs, photos, you name it,” said Schmidt. “Everything that can be converted into electronic format can be put on the site. It’s a great repository for anything you’d want to print, read or listen to.”
The university thought the program would be a great opportunity for students and faculty to enhance the educational environment, Schmidt said.
“With each passing day, we recognize that medicine is becoming more complex,” he said. “We want to take advantage of every opportunity to make the learning experience simpler. With iTunes U, we’re exploring new learning paradigms that we hope will make the students better learners.”
Some universities, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley in particular, have already made course material available to the general public.
Obadiah Greenberg, product manager of UC Berkeley’s Web cast division, said the distribution is subscriber-based.
“We’re making this content freely available to the public,” he said. “They can’t sell it, but they can freely use it.”
MUSC, USC and Clemson currently have no plans to make course material available to the public, but Schmidt said MUSC hopes to make a section of its hosting site available to the general public.
Carla Rathbone, director of educational technology services at Clemson, said the university plans to use iTunes U primarily for academic materials.
“Some materials, things that are promotional in nature, may be available for the general public,” she said. “But for the academic material, you have to be enrolled as a student and subscribe to the program.”
The content may be free, and downloadable onto a computer, but Apple figures the purchase of an iPod is a sure bet, especially among the college-age demographic.
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