Apple updated its iTunes U app to version 2.0 on Tuesday. The new version improves the way students can interact with teachers, and it also adds the ability for teachers to create courses directly in the app on their iPad.
iTunes U is designed to give users access to college-level courses, including a large catalog of free courses. Apple announced major updates on June 30th, with version 2.0 coming just one week later.
iTunes U
Apple's patch notes for the update:
Let the discussion begin
- The new iTunes U makes it simple for students participating in private courses to pose questions on the course or any post or assignment
- Other students in the class can jump into the discussion and ask more questions or provide answers
- Teachers and students can keep up with the conversation when they receive push notifications as the discussion progresses
Create courses on iPad
- Teachers can now create and update their courses using the iTunes U app on their iPad—getting started is fast, simple, and completely free
- Provide every student a course outline, write posts, distribute assignments, upload class materials, easily track participating students, and much more
- Take advantage of the built in camera on iPad to easily capture photos or videos and upload them for course assignments
- Create materials using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—or other apps from the App Store—and add them to your course by using "Open in iTunes U" from within each app
- Teachers affiliated with qualified institutions have the option to publish their courses to the iTunes U Catalog—making them available to everyone for free
iTunes U is a hybrid app designed for iPhone and iPad. It's a free download, and the update is available now.