I presented this paper at MobiLearnAsia 2012 Conference in Sentosa, Singapore on 24 October 2012.

1. iTunes U:
the first mobile-ready free learning channel
Terese Bird
Learning Technologist & SCORE Research Fellow
University of Leicester
MobiLearnAsia 24-25 Oct 2012 – Sentosa, Singapore
www.le.ac.uk

2. SPIDER Project www.le.ac.uk/spider
www.le.ac.uk

3. What will we talk about?
• iTunes U FAQs
• iTunes U history
• ‘Most mobile-ready’
• Ebook trends and iTunes
U implications
Photo courtesy of womensnet_gallery,
• iTunes U case studies Flickr

4. iTunes U: free learning since 2005 / 2007

11. iTunes U how to: mp3, mp4, pdf, epub, ibooks

14. Duke University – iPod per freshman
Photo by m-s-y
on Flickr

15. Recorded lecture
Photo by tama leaver on Flickr

16. Most mobile-ready free learning channel
• Works best on
Apple handhelds
• Works on Androids
• Android v iPhone
• iPad v Nexus
• One-iPad-per-child
Photo by superkimbo on Flickr

17. iTunes U v YouTube
YouTube iTunes U
Ease to publish Easy Easy
Ease to grab Not so easy Easy
Ease to adapt Not so easy Not so easy
CC Catered for but hidden Catered for but hidden
Formats Video Audio, video, epub, pdf
Academic quality Mixed, diluted Very Good to Excellent
Internet connection Required at the time Not required at the time
Software Any browser Free iTunes software
Time limit 10 – 15 minutes None
Restrictions Banned in China & others None
Restrictions in UK Schools don’t like Some unis don’t like
Mobile-ready All All; easier on iOS
Ads Irritating ads No ads

18. How universities make use of iTunes U
• Both current learning and marketing
• “It’s the great learning material that brings the
registrations.” (Bean, 2011)
• Research vignettes
• Library and resources
• Usually both iTunes U and YouTube

19. Download numbers as of June 2012 (Bird, 2012)

20. International reach
3 June 2008 – 2 January 2012

21. International reach – opinions on Sina Weibo

22. Trends
Magrid Associates (2012)

23. Trends
Magrid Associates (2012)

24. Trends
Magrid Associates (2012)

25. Trends

26. Trends – Apple is dropping prices
• One-third of US high school students own iPhone
(price drop on iPhone 3Gs) (Slivka, 2012)
• iPad2 for £329
• In our Spring 2012 survey, 34% of students owned a
tablet computer (same percentage as iPhones), up
from 29% in Fall 2011 and 22% last Spring. Of those
tablet owners, 70% owned iPads, 19% owned
Android tablets, and 11% owned Kindle Fires. 53% of
iPad owners also owned an iPhone, demonstrating
the halo effect of entry devices like the iPhone.

27. iPads in learning
• Over 600
American school
districts are using
iPads
(StaffWriters,
2012)
• Many UK
university iPad
pilots
• Leicester
iPads(Iman, 2012)

28. Now iTunes U has ‘Courses’
• Course: A series of educational lectures, lessons,
interviews, and so on, in a particular subject. Courses
consist of info (including an overview, outline, and
instructor profile), posts (including assignments), and
materials (for example, audio and video items).
Instructors can create and prepare content for a course
by recording lectures, developing assignments, creating
videos and podcasts, uploading keynote presentations or
other documents and handouts, and much more. (Apple,
2012)

29. Now iTunes U has ‘Courses’

30. Now iTunes U has ‘Courses’

31. How to make Courses
• Need to be in iTunes U
• Apple’s own instructions
‘iTunes U Course
Manager’ (Apple, 2012)
• Cedar’s School of
Excellence tutorials on
iTunes U are excellent
(Speirs, 2012)

32. eBooks for all devices!
• Calibre – free, open-
source, cross-platform
• mobi – Kindle
• epub – everything else
• iPads read epub!
• There’s always pdf
but…

33. eBooks for all devices!
• How-to video on YouTube and iTunes U, view on
http://www.le.ac.uk/duckling
• Instructions at: http://tinyurl.com/calibreinstruc
• Findings from DUCKLING project – JISC-funded

34. Should we just ignore Apple, iPads &
iTunes U?
• Must keep them in sight
• iPad2 discount – affordable?
• Apple playing a long game
(Hill, 2012)
• iPad is number 1 tablet in
education, no one else is
doing anything like iTunes U

35. Try epub,
consider iTunes U
• www.le.ac.uk/
manufacturingpasts
as example of trying
all formats

39. Conclusions from iTunes U Cases

40. Thank you!
Apple. (2012). Using iTunes U Public Site Manager: Glossary. Using iTunes U Public Site Manager. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from
http://sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/help/Glossary/chapter_998_section_1.html
Hill, P. (2012). Apple is Playing the Long Game with iBooks 2 and iTunesU App | e-Literatee-Literate. eLiterate Website. Retrieved
June 20, 2012, from http://mfeldstein.com/apple-is-playing-the-long-game-with-ibooks2-and-itunesu-app/
Iman, F. (2012). University of Leicester takes learning into the heart of conflict zones — University of Leicester. University of
Leicester website. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-
releases/2012/march/university-of-leicester-takes-learning-into-the-heart-of-conflict-zones
Magrid Associates, F. N. (2012). A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User Wave II. Retrieved from
http://onlinepubs.ehclients.com/images/pdf/MMF-OPA_--_Portrait_of_Tablet_User-Wave_2_--_Jun12_(Public).pdf
Slivka, E. (2012). One-Third of U.S. High School Students Now Own an iPhone - Mac Rumors. MacRumors website. Retrieved June
20, 2012, from http://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/03/one-third-of-u-s-high-school-students-now-own-an-iphone/
Speirs, F. (2012). Creating iTunes U Courses - Download Free Content from Cedars School of Excellence on iTunes. Cedars School
of Excellence iTunes U site. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://itunes.apple.com/gb/course/creating-itunes-u-
courses/id535005672
staff writers for Online Universities.com site. (2012). 18 enlightening ipad experiments in education » online universities. Online
Universities.com website. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/18-enlightening-ipad-
experiments-in-education