On your iPad or iPhone open the App Store and use the top right Search field, type "iTunes U". This is a free app; download at home not over CSUS Guest WiFi network. Or you can use this direct link to download iTunes U.
iTunes is an app for iPad & iPhone and is part of iTunes on your computer. Be sure to experience both.
Online discovery and lifelong learning is best done with company. Find a friend with similar interests and identify subjects of shared interest. Practice finding online courses through iTunes, review the list of Great Seminars or other sources (PDF). Learn. Laugh. Love.
What is a college course? Often a structured learning scenario, it includes a professor, resources like handouts and textbooks and multimedia (audio, video, interactive applications). There will be assignments, quizzes and tests completed by a classroom full of students meeting several times a week for a semester on campus. You pay tuition to the college to participate in courses. What is an iTunes U course? Is a flexible learning scenario. You can "audit" courses or enroll to take them for college credit. The course is often designed by a team, with the professor as a content specialist with graphic designers and filmmakers and computer experts working to create an engaging online learning experience. Handouts, lectures, videos and books are provided as links to be downloaded. You can begin an iTunes U course at anytime, view all the materials or just what interests you. You can use a computer or a mobile device to read/view course content. Most courses are free to access. What are MOOCs? - new from universities around the world - Massive Open Online Courses are free to access. What are Collections and Lectures? iTunes U can draw material from other Apple online content – so a collection on civil rights can include free lectures, links to iBooks, links to songs and albums, as well as packaged course content from colleges or museums.
Users of the App Store and iBooks Store will recognize some of the discovery and search features when using iTunes on your computer to find iTunes U courses and materials. Search field finds music, podcasts, books and courses. Looking at course details, you will find similar courses. There is a Catalog/Categories for new material, and your personal Library for the course/content you have subscribed to. Swipe up to see more. Swipe across to continue exploring.
Look at the top of the screen (under the current time), if it says "iTunes U" then you are looking at your personal Library view. To search for topics, touch the Catalog link on the top left. The current iPad screen, in iOS 8 shows Top Charts in the center and the Search field on the right. Below are Courses and Collections. At the bottom of the screen are filters for Featured and Top Charts. Touch the Featured star button to change the view. Looks familiar! Now this looks like the App Store, the iBooks Store and the iTunes store. Above the animated carousel of featured courses are the following links: All Categories, Business, Science, History and More. Below the animated carousel are links to Universities & Colleges, Beyond Campus and K-12. Some of the featured content will include a charge, for books, songs, movies or new apps.
At this point, in iOS 8, you may have trouble navigating some of the categories due to a small pop-up area. Selecting a course or finding information in the pop-up area is challenging. We expect to see this user experience improved in an upcoming iOS update. If you have a computer, this problem will not interfere with exploring iTunes U courses.
A course packet looks like a binder with tabs. This is your clue that a course includes handouts, audio or video, books and other material. Touch a course packet to open a pop-up screen and dive deeper: read the description, course outline, reviews and related courses/content. Courses offer a Subscribe option where new course content arrives to your device automatically, like in a Podcast, when you are on wifi. New content shows as a red badge on a course packet. Or, don't commit to "taking a course" because you can just browse the course packet and download what interests you. To dismiss the pop-up details, touch outside the pop-up. To audit a course, just touch the outline topics to hear audio or see the video. If a document (PDF) is included, touch the outline topic and Safari will appear and then the document will open. You can then save the PDF to your iPad or iPhone.
Now it is your turn. SEARCH, BY TOPIC, or SCHOOL, SCROLL down list for name of school. Pick one course and check it out. Touch all the buttons to reveal the outline and handouts and links to apps. You can take notes as you learn.
Ranny demonstrated Big History with David Christian at Villanova University or his Big History TED Talk from 2011.
Jennifer demonstrated Geopolitics of the Arctic and The Smithsonian Folkways recording of Inuit singers performing the Canadian National Anthem with a Twist.
iTunes U, the quickest and easiest way to get to a lifetime of learning. Good resources for Renaissance as both a leader and a participant.
Here is a hint if you want to share information found in an iTunes course: Look for the Share icon (an arrow pointing up from a box) to see if Copy Link is one of the options. Copy the link to a Notes page and add additional information about the course or video so you can find the information easily. From Notes, you can share the page with all text and live links as an email message.
