Apple has announced a brand new iTunes U app for the iPad (free, App Store link) at their education event on Thursday. It will allow university/college students to view course materials, receive updates from their teachers and even sign up for classes. iTunes U also now accepts high school courses in addition to the university courses already available.
Apple showed off a “Core Concepts in Chemistry” course from Duke in the keynote, which looked impressive. Students can get an overview of the course, view teacher details, obtain the class syllabus, and even access information like the teacher’s office hours. It’s pretty amazing.
The app has sections for “Info,” “Posts,” “Notes” and “Materials.” The “Notes” tab allows students to modify their class notes and highlight text. The “Materials” tab lists what is needed for the course and the “Posts” updates students with work from teachers. It’s pretty impressive, and hopefully many universities will sign on to the concept.
So there it is – full courses, including notes, interactive content, the addition of high school courses – all for free! Pretty awesome stuff. The new iTunes U app is available now for free from the App Store (free, App Store link).
