Columbia U Going Live on iTunes U

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/27/08

Columbia University has been beta testing its content through iTunes U, Apple's education-focused portal within its popular iTunes digital media player. The New York-based university expects to go live with its release at the start of the fall semester.

Columbia on iTunes U will allow students, instructors, and the public to search, download, and play content on computers or iPods. The site, accessible via the Web site, ccnmtl.columbia.edu/itunesu/, contains audio and video podcasts of course lectures, course media and campus events. University staff will work with instructors, administrators, and academic departments in uploading content to the site. Instructors may choose to manage access to their course-related audio and video collections, providing it only to current students, for example.

The Columbia iTunes site provides a list of the most popular downloads, which currently features at the top of the list a set of podcasts titled, " Video, Education, and Open Content: Best Practices." The 16 tracks were recorded during a two-day symposium put on by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning in 2007.