In the coming months, Northwestern administrators plan to increase student- and faculty-generated content available on NU’s iTunes U page as well as develop a private iTunes site just for NU students and faculty.
Over 200 video and audio files of fine arts performances, lectures and campus events are now available to the public for no charge on NU’s iTunes U Web site. The NU site was launched in February.
The service, launched by Apple Inc. in 2007 as part of the iTunes Store, enables colleges and universities to post free academic content available to all iTunes users, as well as create a library of restricted material viewable only to enrolled students and faculty.
The current library of podcasts available on iTunes U consists mainly of videos transferred from NU’s YouTube Web page and makes up only a small sampling of the university-related content that will be offered in the upcoming months, said Mike McGee, president of Associated Student Government.
NU’s iTunes U page is divided into four channels, each featuring different facets of campus life: Academics and Research, Arts, Technology and On Campus.
“iTunes U is a great way to showcase what Northwestern students have to offer the community for free … a lot of people around the world don’t know about Northwestern, and iTunes U is a great way to get the university’s name out there,” the Communication junior said.
The new technology is also building a platform for student groups to advertise their names to the rest of the university. The Center for Student Involvement, a student-run organization focused on providing social and educational programs to engage members of the NU community, uploaded its first podcasts on the NU channel a few weeks ago, said Robert Davis, associate director of NUIT Academic and Research Technologies.
“This is a good first step in getting students involved with iTunes U,” he said.
The next step for advancing the iTunes U Web site involves creating a private site available exclusively for NU students and faculty, which will provide tools such as video lectures viewable to students enrolled in certain classes.
The technology will allow any faculty member to post videos of lectures or course-related material on the private iTunes U site, which enrolled students can access with their NetID and password. These video lectures will likely become more accessible to undergraduate students in the fall, Davis said.
“iTunes U is a part of an interesting and very powerful trend of different Web publishing and Web communication platforms becoming available to the university faculty and university students,” said Bob Taylor, director of NUIT Academic and Research Technologies.
A major advantage of the iTunes U technology is its ability to keep up with the mobile life of NU students, Taylor said. The content is able to be viewed on both Macintosh- and Windows-based desktops and laptops, as well as on the incredibly popular range of iPods.
“This is part of an overall long-term initiative by NUIT to make sure that we can support Northwestern students with the types of devices they prefer to have with them as they move around campus,” Taylor said.
The NU iTunes U channel is a joint effort of NUIT Academic and Research Technologies and University Relations.
