iTunes U

I just watched a presentation on iTunes U done by David Hopkins. Upon reviewing the presentation, I immediately accessed iTunes U on my laptop. I am happy that it is very simple to use. I instantly found 11 different Podcast topics each containing at least 5 Podcasts each; and that was ONLY on the Holocaust!

This will be a vital teaching tool once it increases in popularity. Instead of just homework out of the book, for instance, I can assign a Podcast to view. I can tell them to reflect on it and post their comment on the class blog. I like the idea of being able to assign something different. Hopefully it will spark some creativity in their work.

After doing some searching on iTunes U Duke, I noticed that they had an area called "Student Showcase". I watched a Vodcast that interviewed a graduate student, Liangbo Hu, in the College of Engineering. He described his thoughts about Duke, the engineering program, what his contributions are and what he wants to leave Duke with. His interview was one of many for just the College of Engineering. It allows for future students to get a good general idea of what that program is like. I think this would be fantastic to have for the University of South Alabama. I know I would have loved to have found out, from a student's perspective, about the different departments before going to school here.