Headed to college this fall? If so, I recommend finding out if your school is on iTunes U, a virtual education library in iTunes to which many colleges and universities worldwide contribute. Through your school you may be able to access a wide variety of lectures, videos, films, podcasts and other educational resources on your computer, iPhone, iPad or iPod. These can be extremely valuable when researching topics for your various classes. iTunes U also supports PDF and ePub file formats, so you may find that some of your professors choose to distribute syllabi and other course materials in iTunes U.
Even if you’re not college bound, or if your school is not currently making content available, iTunes U is a fun and informative resource that covers a broad spectrum of topics. Many schools—such as Harvard, Cambridge and The University of Chicago—have chosen to open their content to the public. Today while eating lunch, I downloaded and listened to a lecture given by one of my favorite authors at Princeton in 2008. I greatly enjoy traveling through time and space via iTunes U to experience talks I would otherwise miss out on.
Designed for formal students and life-long learners, iTunes U is an amazing trove of information containing something for everyone. iTunes U is not just limited to institutions of higher education; it also features a Beyond Campus section filled with content from museums, libraries, PRI and PBS. Like all Apple products, iTunes U contains accessibility features for users with disabilities, such as working with VoiceOver on the Mac. I encourage everyone to explore iTunes U and learn something new!