iTunes U

Apple iTunes U headed for graduation, unemployment

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iTunes U, we hardly knew ye.
Parts of iTunes U are being replaced with newer apps. Other features will just go away.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

iTunes U is being expelled. Parts of this education application are being replaced by other teaching aids developed by Apple. But the company won‘t continue to offer free classes.

iTunes U graduates to 2.0 with new course discussion features

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iTunes U is making it more simple for students and teachers to connect with a 2.0 update that brings new course creation and discussion features to Apple’s popular educational app.

After being announced last month by Apple, iTunes U received its largest update in over a year this morning that allows iTunes U users to participate in private discussions on their course, posts, or assignments, while also giving teachers more tools to manage their classes while on the go.

iTunes U gets more educational with iPad course creation and discussion features

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Apple has announced that it’s updating its iTunes U app with new iPad-friendly features designed to make it easier for teachers and students to use tablets for their online courses. The new features will roll out starting July 8.

“Education is at the core of Apple’s DNA and iTunes U is an incredibly valuable resource for teachers and students,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “iTunes U features an amazing selection of academic materials for everyone around the world. Now, with the ability to better manage and discuss educational content, learning becomes even more personalized on iPad.”

The app’s update will let teachers create full courses entirely on their iPad by importing content from iWork, iBooks Author and other educational apps in the iOS App Store. Teachers will also be able to use the iPad’s in-built camera to incorporate photos and videos into the course material.

Apple Brings iBooks Textbooks & iTunes U To New Markets

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Apple has today announced that iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager are expanding into new markets across Asia, Latin America, Europe, and other countries around the world. The expansions brings the total number of countries supported by iBooks Textbooks up to 51, while iTunes U Course Manager is now available in 70, including Russia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Apple Tosses Forstall’s Woodgrain In The Shredder With iBooks Update For iOS 7

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Continuing its slow purge of felts, leathers and woodgrains the UI of iOS 7, Apple released an iBooks for iOS update today that finally dismantles the woodgrain shelves championed by former iOS Cheif Scott Forstall, and tosses them in the woodchipper.

The update features the same minimalist UI that Apple has embraced throughout iOS 7 and its other apps, though it doesn’t look like Apple actually added any major new features. Apple also released an update for iTunes U today with an all-new look and feel. Both app updates are available for free in iTunes now.

Source: iTunes

Apple Adds Pull to Refresh And Improved Language Support To iTunes U

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iTunes U hasn’t been redesigned to mesh well with iOS 7 just yet, but Apple is still putting out a few feature updates for its educational app.

Apple released a new version of iTunes U in the App Store today that adds pull to refresh, improved language support, bug fixes and more. The new update is available in the App Store for free.

Here are the release notes:

Apple Announces iTunes U Content Has Topped One Billion Downloads

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itunesU

Apple announced today that their free education portal, iTunes U, just topped over one billion downloads for content. iTunes U provides free educational content from some of the top universities around the world and is the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content.

If you’re looking for a free education, or just want to brush up on some subjects, you can enroll in iTunes U courses from professors at Duke, Yale, Cambridge, MIT, Oxford, and Stanford.

You Can Download All 5 Of Apple’s Free iOS Apps With Just One Tap In iOS 6

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Isn't that handy?
Isn't that handy?

When iOS 6 rolls out tomorrow, you be able to download all five of Apple’s free iOS apps — including iBooks, iTunes U, Podcasts, Find My Friends, and Find My iPhone — with just one tap from the new App Store. The Cupertino company has introduced a new ‘Apple Apps’ page that greets first-time App Store users, and it features a button that will install all five apps at once.

How The iPad Is Transforming The Classroom [Back To School]

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The iPad is engaging students and transforming the K-12 education experience.
The iPad is engaging students and transforming the K-12 education experience.

During its education event in January, Apple unveiled its plans to revolutionize the K-12 classroom with the iPad, electronic textbooks, a revamped version of iTunes U that supports content for K-12 schools as well as higher education, and tools for educators to create their own digital content using iBooks Author and iTunes U.

In the intervening months, schools and districts around the country have made significant investments in iPads, including the San Diego Unified School District, which invested $15 million in 26,000 iPads for its students. Those sales created a record quarter for Apple in the K-12 education market.

With the back to school season upon us, it’s clear that the massive iPad deployments will give Apple the opportunity to disrupt the classroom in the ways it has whole industries and, in many ways, that’s a good thing.

Beyond The Numbers: What Tim Cook Really Said In Apple’s Q3 2012 Financial Call

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Beyond just offering up the latest quarterly financial numbers, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave us glimpses of where Apple is heading.
Beyond just offering up the latest quarterly financial numbers, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave us glimpses of where Apple is heading.

Beyond the numbers, there were some tantalizing tidbits about Apple and the company’s future plans during today’s quarterly financial call. While nothing quite lived up to Tim Cook comparing Windows 8 to someone trying to converge a toaster and a refrigerator into a single device during the last call, there were several choice comments.

Apple’s Q3 2012 Earnings Call By The Numbers

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iPhone and iPad continued to grow, the Mac outpaced the PC industry for a 25th quarter - just a couple of facts from Apple's latest financial call.
iPhone and iPad continued to grow, the Mac outpaced the PC industry for a 25th quarter - just a couple of facts from Apple's latest financial call.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer presented the results of the company’s spring 2012 quarter. The quarter included extensive growth for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac product lines though iPod sales declined 10% from the same quarter a year ago.

Here are the financial numbers delivered during the call.

Apple’s iTunes U May Be Leading A Global Revolution In Higher Education

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Are Apple's iTunes U or Coursera the future of higher education?
Are Apple's iTunes U and Coursera the future of higher education?

Both the Atlantic and NY Times ran stories this week focusing on Coursera, an initiative involving several high-profile universities that are putting a range of classes online for anyone who wants to take them. The initiative is part of trend in higher education to make learning available to anyone who has the personal or professional interest in taking a college or university class regardless of financial or geographical challenges.

While Coursera is getting a lot of media attention and is racking up hundreds of thousands of students around the globe, the idea of free college learning is hardly new. Apple introduced the concept of watching or listening to college lectures when it first rolled out iTunes U in 2007. More recently, Apple revamped iTunes U to offer a much more immersive experience that includes assigned readings, activities and projects, and even note-taking in addition to recorded lectures.

Apple Reminds Teachers And IT Pros About Free Web iPad-In-Education Webcast Series

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Apple is offering free webcasts on using iPads, iBooks Author, and iTunes in education
Apple is offering free webcasts on using iPads, iBooks Author, and iTunes in education

One of the ways that working in education is different from almost any other industries is the annual summer break. The summer break let’s schools and districts tackle large projects in ways that simply aren’t possible in other fields. Deploying a brand-new network, building an expansion, and taking part in professional development programs are just a few examples.

With the end of the school year, Apple is taking the opportunity to remind schools and educators about a free professional development program that it’s offering. Called the Tune In Series, the program is a series of webcast events covering the iPad and many of the technologies that Apple introduced during its education event in January. The series is running every week through the end of August.

Apple Configurator Update Significantly Improves App Management

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Apple releases its first update to its Apple Configurator iOS management app
Apple releases its first update to its Apple Configurator iOS management app

Apple has released the first update for its free iOS Apple Configurator tool. Configurator, which we’ve covered in-depth since its release last month, allows organizations to mass configure and deploy iPads. The software works best as a stand-alone management solution for iOS devices that are shared among multiple users but it can also be part of a wider mobile management strategy.

The update includes a handful of bug fixes as well as a couple or major changes to the ways that Configurator works with app and ebook purchases.

Apple Leaving Colleges Out Of Its iPad-In-Education Push Is A Brilliant Move

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Apple's e-textbooks and iPad in education initiative leaves colleges largely out of the picture - for good reasons
Apple's e-textbooks and iPad in education initiative leaves colleges largely out of the picture - for good reasons

Apple’s e-textbook initiative, which the company launched in January along with iBooks Author and a revamped iTunes U service is aimed at K-12 schools rather than higher education. Higher education has a different set of needs when it comes to textbooks, study, and reference materials. There are also big differences in device/platform selection between K-12 and the college market.

In fact, these differences are probably a big part of why Apple decided to focus the majority of its e-textbook (and, by extension its iPad in education) effort on the K-12 market. It’s a market that yields Apple more growth opportunities now and down the road. 

Why Today’s Education Announcements Means The Sub-$299 iPad Is Coming Soon [Opinion]

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Today’s Education Event at the Guggenheim in New York City was by all reports supposed to be “demure,” but that didn’t stop Apple from making a big splash. In fact, today’s event may have marked the most concerted attempt by Apple to revolutionize the classroom since the original Apple IIe.

Among today’s announcements? A new version of iBooks that makes textbooks on an iPad fully interactive, along with free authoring tools so easy-to-use and revolutionary that literally any author can create a beautifully formatted interactive e-book. Coupled with iTunes U — perhaps the most comprehensive classroom learning software ever — and a pledge to keep the price of all textbooks at $14.99, Apple’s goals are clear: they want to get an iPad in the hands of every student in the country.

There’s only one problem, right now: the lack of a budget iPad. It’s a problem Apple can (and should) fix.

What Was The Most Revolutionary Thing Apple Announced At Today’s Education Event? [Poll]

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For a “small, demure event,” Apple announced a shocking amount of new stuff at today’s Education Event: a new version of iBooks with e-textbook support, iTunes U’s new virtual classroom app, iBook Author (which should revolutionize home publishing) and even several incredible, interactive textbooks. We’re wondering, though, of all this stuff, which of today’s announcements do you find most revolutionary, most exciting?

Tick off your answer in the poll above, then join us in the comments, where we’ll be discussing what Apple’s announcements mean for the future of iOS and the e-book industry.