An iTunes U site can be a valuable resource for your institution.  Students love having access to course content on their mobile devices and computers.  Faculty appreciate recognition of their scholarly work. Administrators enjoy hearing visitors’ comments.  I could go on, but then again, you are probably not the one who needs to be convinced that an iTunes U site is a good idea.  In this article I am going to provide you with three tips for creating a successful iTunes U site.

Tip One: Make a strong case

Apple’s website includes an easy-to-follow page that clearly explains the process for getting an iTunes U site set up. Even so, concerns by members of your institution may delay the application process. Therefore, my first tip is to make a strong case for iTunes U to the decision makers at your institution. 

Questions may come up about why iTunes U is necessary.  A recent study by Veeramani & Bradley (2008) found that 82% of students want access to online lecture content for their courses. An iTunes U site can be a central location where students go to find course content.  Professors may have concerns about a possible drop in attendance if lecture content is made available online.  A study by Lane (2006) found that 85% of students said having access to digital recordings of lectures would not cause them to skip more classes.  The Lane study also stated that students use these recordings to fill in holes in their notes and study for exams.  Questions about intellectual property, copyrights, and other issues will probably come up. Do your homework and be prepared to find answers to stakeholders’ questions.  There is a great community of existing iTunes U institutions who are willing to help answer questions. A list of iTunes U Colleges and Universities can be found on the iTunes U site.   

Tip Two: Gathering content

Once your institution applies for an iTunes U site you will need to start gathering content. Apple wants institutions to have a minimum of 150 files before a site is made public, along with a plan for adding more content on a regular basis.  How do you get content?  Many schools start with newly created content, building up to the minimum slowly as they digitize new content.  My second tip for you is to consider starting your project by digitizing existing content. My institution, Seattle Pacific University, chose to digitize existing content as a way of initially populating our site.  We had thirty-plus years of lecture and chapel recordings on reel-to-reel, SVHS, and cassette tapes piled in boxes in a storage room.  We used strong staff leadership and student labor to convert all of this content into iTunes-friendly files.  Students did this work as “filler” projects. In other words, when they weren’t helping with a current project, students were asked to grab a box of tapes and start digitizing.  Using this approach, we quickly met the minimum content quota and had a regular flow of “new” content while we worked on finding other content. It should also be noted that starting this way allowed us to preserve important historical audio and video files for the institution that would have gradually vanished as the tapes deteriorated.  

Tip Three: Finding faculty champions

Like other instructional technology-related projects, you will need early adopters who can demonstrate what is possible to their peers.  My third tip is to be on the lookout for faculty excited about iTunes U and do whatever is necessary to help them get started.  Hopefully, several professors self-identified as digital pioneers during the iTunes application phase.  Regardless of whether this happens, it will be important to conduct workshops showing faculty how they can begin to share content using iTunes U.  It will be helpful to provide several paths for faculty to follow.  At Seattle Pacific University, we offer to record lectures or train professors on how use lecture capture software like Camtasia Relay to create their own recordings. Camtasia Relay can be configured to generate iTunes U ready files that can be uploaded to your institution’s site. 

It is important to note that not all professors will find value in posting course content to iTunes U.  Some professors believe that it is just more work for the same results (Moore, 2002). However, these same professors may reconsider if you provide a workshop showing them how to integrate existing iTunes U content in their courses. A physics professor may get excited about the possibility of having George Smoot “guest lecture” in her class and then decide she too wants to share knowledge with the world.  Once professors start sharing content on iTunes U, they usually continue because their students will let them know how much they appreciate having access to lecture recordings.

Conclusion

Once up and running, an iTunes U site can be a valuable institutional asset.  However, for this to happen, there must be clear answers for those questioning the need for a site. There must be clearly identified sources for content. Finally, there must be good professional develop for faculty.  The forum associated with this article is a good place to start the discussion.  Please use it to ask questions and share promising practices about iTunes U.

David Wicks is Director of Instructional Technology at Seattle Pacific University where he helps faculty integrate appropriate uses of technology into their instruction. SPU's iTunes U project started in September of 2006 and the site averages 50,000 downloads per month.