An interesting note... I had to upgrade to a newer version of iTunes and I noticed that the older version did not have a menu tab for iTunesU. It took me a while to figure out that I had to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to find a link to iTunesU. Previously, I was accessing iTunesU from its website. The newer version, iTunes 10, does have a menu button for iTunesU. This suggests to me that there has been an increase in its usage and value, which warrants an easier way to get to it.
To be honest, I am having a hard time coming up with topics to blog about for iTunesU. I would appreciate it if the followers would include any questions or things you would like to know about in your comments for this or future postings.
At the bottom of the iTunesU homepage there is a link for the Monthly iTunesU Spotlight.I decided to click on it to gain some inspiration for this week's blog. As I should have guessed, November's Spotlight is on United States History and Politics. The opening description does a nice job of hooking users into to wanting to know more. The content is divided into 5 collections; US Politics, Early American History, Famous American Figures, Insightful Inspirations, and More to Explore. There were clips ranging in duration from less than one minute to over an hour long. Some of the clips were very new and discussed attack campaigning and the Tea Party Movement. Others were very historical and relevant to what is currently going on in our country. I was happy to see that there was a link to American History: Speeches and Essays, created by the Florida Department of Education and the University of South Florida, which presented very famous moments in history geared towards a K-12 audience. Stanford had 5 features links on the Spotlight page and other universities also present content that would be made available for specific academic courses. I wonder if the courses are repeated each year for the content is used for more than just one semester. Some of the topics are very nichey and deal with tapped White House phone calls and specific time periods and individuals. I wonder what qualifies a clip for potential inclusion in the Monthly Spotlight other than matching the topic. I wonder if next month's spotlight will be on the December holidays or something along those lines.
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ReplyDeleteHi Greg:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your update on the happenings as reported in the Monthly iTunesU Spotlight. From your summary of the topics listed on the website, the Monthly iTunesU Spotlight seems like a great resource for English and Social Studies teachers.
Possible Future Questions
(1). Have the use of Apple devices such as iPhones, iPad and the ipod Touch taken off on college/university campuses across the United States?
(2). Are college/university faculty memebers debating the usefulness/effectiveness of these devices in the classroom?
(3). Do you see iTune Univeristy becoming an accepted resource that faculty members refer student to for Project-based learning or collaborative assignments?
Greg,
ReplyDeleteThe Monthly Spotlight is very interesting and the November spotlight could be helpful for teachers, especially those who teach Social Studies.
Do you know how they determine who or what gets feature links? It was interesting that Stanford got 5 feature links on the Spotlight page.