Students from Texas can now download podcasts, videos as well as other multimedia lessons through iTunes. According to state officials, the new program is meant to provide free, supplementary corsework that can be accessed from anywhere. The iTunes U channel, as it’s called, allows teachers to upload various materials from their classes. The materials can help students understand new concepts. They can also provide aid when students are researching on a specific subject. Students, as well as their parents, are then able to view the material at home or on school computers. Owners of iPod music players can even download the information onto their devices.
On top of providing valuable information for their students, teachers can also trade information and tips with other teachers across the state. They’ll be able to post and view each other’s videos . Until now about 146,000 teachers have already signed up for the program. The state of Texas initially talked things over with Apple three years ago. The actual work on the project started in November. The governor’s office and the Texas Education Agency basically started gathering existing teacher training videos.
According to Gov. Rick Perry :”A lot of that content may already be out there, but it’s either overlooked or hard to access.” “This will really consolidate that information” he added.
This program doesn’t require a huge investment and it’s easily achievable. The only costs associated with it would be the additional server space or production equipment. But it looks like there really won’t be a need for a server until the program manages to gather a huge volume of content, according to Texas Education Agency’s spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe. Apple is currently hosting the content that has already been created. Several other state agencies and nonprofit groups will also contribute and upload content to the site. Currently the state has established partnerships with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and PBS.
What makes this so great? Any user (including students, teachers or any other people that are interested) will be able to download the public, free of charge materials that are posted through the program. They’ll have to follow the exact same steps they normally would when they downloaded music and videos off of iTunes. While content is widely accessible, the forum-based discussions between teachers will be kept private and password protected. To make sure students are only getting the proper information and content, all of the posted material will first be filtered through the Texas Education Agency. It’s also going to be in conjunction with state-approved textbooks. I’m personally glad to see, that iTunes, on top of providing entertainment for a huge number of users, can also facilitate the education of some of the bright young minds in Texas.
