Comments on: Why iTunes University is a Game Changer

By: iTunes U and the joy it brings to my life | Simply Wanderlust

iTunes U and the joy it brings to my life | Simply Wanderlust — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:51:40 +0000

[...] your writing. While I’ve seen plenty of these videos on both iTunes U and the podcast market, I prefer iTunes U lectures because they’re more structured and have more valuable information that I end up using. Read more [...]

By: iTunes U als ELO ?

iTunes U als ELO ? — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:13:06 +0000

"Let's start with LMS's and learning environments. If you think about how the majority of classes in the majority of colleges use an LMS, it's primarily as a file sharing utility. Share the syllabus, share the handouts, share the assignments….

By: Gardner

Gardner — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:31:22 +0000

Agreed on all counts. Part of what worries me about iTunes U is that its iPod-specific design, which I certainly can’t fault Apple for, becomes a de facto non-standard Apple-specific opportunity for lock-in. I can’t help thinking that Apple is leveraging a business practice no one could complain about–making products that work best when used together–into a situation where they’ll never need to worry about common standards again. The best analogy I can come up with right now is Internet Explorer and its relation to the Windows OS. Not good!

By: Michael Feldstein

Michael Feldstein — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:25:23 +0000

The reason I focus on an Apple-branded ecosystem is because Apple does. I’m trying to spell out what their stake is so that people can decide for themselves how harmless or pernicious it is and how likely it is to have a negative impact on their institution in the future.

Apple is attempting to walk a fine line. They argue that their products support industry standards (e.g., the MPEG-sponsored AAC audio rather than, say, the proprietary Windows Media format) and interoperability everywhere that standards exist. However, over and above the standards, their products tend to work best in general and work best with each other. For example, iMovie may save to MPEG4 and Garage Band to AAC, but the ease with which you can pull a Garage Band sound track into iMovie is Apple-specific and goes beyond the least-common-denominator interoperability that standards afford.

As long as they toe the line on standards, I don’t object. Why should I be unhappy if they provide a better user experience? If they come to “dominate” the campus by providing the best products, then so be it.

That said, making sure they stick to those standards religiously and expose the hooks wherever possible becomes very important. That’s why the copy-and-paste issue with iTunes and podcasting/podcatching is non-trivial.

By: Gardner Campbell

Gardner Campbell — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:07:57 +0000

Michael,

That penultimate paragraph is pretty Apple-centric, and reinforces my suspicion that iTunes U aims at creating an Apple-dominated higher education environment. If a school commits to iTunes U, are they committing to that vision as well, implicitly?

Why focus so narrowly on the Apple-branded ecosystem that iTunes U “completes”?

By: The imminent arrival of iTunes University at UVM

The imminent arrival of iTunes University at UVM — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 20:25:57 +0000

This posting from Michael Feldstein's e-Literate blog discusses some of the reasons that I'm excited about the imminent arrival of iTunes University at UVM. For me, this will be a perfect way of distributing content to my students. I'm…