I had never heard of iTunes U until this morning when my boss linked our group to Columbia University’s New Media in Education ‘08 Conference. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it; in fact I’m rather torn!
iTunes already has a great content delivery system that millions of people use every day. The interface is familiar and certainly more comfortable than any LMS I’ve ever used (Moodle, BlackBoard, etc). Does it make sense to use an already proven system for entertainment delivery for education?
Is it wise to keep the two so close together?
Congrats to Apple for helping spread a true freedom that everyone is entitled to, that being education. Using such a familiar and proven system, as you stated, for the delivery of educational content is a great step forward. Does this replace common learning management systems in place today? Most likely not. I don’t see corporate entities utilizing this as they could because of the investment they have placed on other resolutions.
In regards to the idea of keeping entertainment and education so close together, why not? Some one viewing a 3 hour lecture on middle eastern politics can take a break and view an episode of Arrested Development or Aqua Teen Hunger Force to help them cope with the amount of information they are ingesting.
I can also see how keeping these two close together can lead to a more educated public at large. Putting a movie about the end of days along side a documentary about religious views on death from every culture, can help round out a persons knowledge and open them up. It can create someone, possibly I hope, who is less likely to shoot down opposition and more likely to embrace it for the idea that it is different and contains a view and information they had not considered.
I think bringing education and entertainment together is an important step in the right direction. I know I learn and retain more information when I am entertained by the material. Also, learning in an environment the user is familiar and comfortable in will free up some thoughts that might be consumed by also learning and remembering the environment’s interface.
iTunes is just a content management system. It’s got a nice UI. I’ve always appreciated the filtering mechanism. It works exactly the way I want it to. I don’t think iTunes is a good name - maybe iContent would have been more exact. I already manage so much more than tunes with it. Podcasts, iPhone apps, pictures, and my google contacts. iTunes U: same old iTunes with a new buzz - thanks Steve jobs, now I need you for everything.