Closing Thoughts about iTunes University

Apple, a long time supporter of educational technology in the classroom, created iTunes University (iTunes U) as place on the iTunes Store website where educators can list links to educational podcasts and can control access to them if needed.  Educators must apply to Apple to list podcasts in iTunes U, and once accepted, there is no charge to list or use iTunes U.  Educators must create and store their podcasts on their the own websites, and they list RSS feed links at iTunes U.

Learners must use iTunes software to listen to the podcasts downloaded through iTunes U.   Apple already has the majority market share of the mobile listening device market, so many people already have iTunes software on their computers.  Learners do not need to own an iPod to listen to podcasts downloaded from iTunes or iTunes U.  They can listen on any computer platform that has installed free iTunes software.
 
Since educators must create their podcast themselves, really the discussion centers around the use of podcasting technology in education.  Does podcasting result in knowledge transfer?  The answer is, "it depends."  There seems to be a lack of information on the impact of podcasting on education, most likely because the use of podcasting as an educational tool is still relatively new.  Comments from educators who have experimented with podcasting in the classroom indicate that, when used to engage students, podcasting does seem to result in improved learning results.   Requiring students to engage with podcasts -- whether through listent and notetaking or student podcast creation -- seems to result in knowledge transfer.  Podcasting can be used to engage learners to apply the what they have learned in the creation of podcasting  -- and students enjoy creating work that can be shared by classmates and the world. 

This means that simply setting up a microphone or video camera and pushing play to record a lecture or seminar, while the easier to do, will not induce much learning.  Educators will have to invest extra time to think how to engage learners in the use of podcasting technology.  If they do this, they will probably be happy with the results.