Guide to iTunes U

iTunes U is a part of the new education revolution. With the accessibility and wealth of information shared in the 21st century, you no longer need a $50,000 tuition fee to access the same information someone is receiving at Harvard or any other university. Just a laptop and an internet connection can now put you in the seat of a Yale University classroom. iTunes U offers similar content like the courses and lectures we offer here at Virtual Professors — only instead of streaming them online — they are available for download. With the plethora of wireless networks available these days and our streaming videos, you might find it unnecessary to take up more space on your hard drive; but if you feel a download is for you, then this guide is here to help you navigate iTunes U.

DOWNLOAD iTUNES U

iTunes U is a section of iTunes, so there are no extra downloads necessary. But, if you do not yet have iTunes downloaded onto your computer, you can download iTunes here.

NAVIGATING iTUNES U

Once you open the iTunes Store by clicking the link on the left of the screen, you will see a navigation bar at the top of the window. Click the far right “iTunes U” button; this will take you to the main iTunes U page. From there you will find a variety of options for finding your right course for you.

Browse by Subject
One way to to navigate iTunes, is to browse by subject. On the last navigation link you clicked, you will find a arrow pointed down. You can click this to open a subject listing. Once inside your selected subject’s page, you will find “Categories” navigation box on the left. Next to your subject there is a box marked “more.” You can use this box to narrow down the focus of your subject. For instance, under Business, you will find the subcategories: Economics, Management, Finance, and Marketing.

Inside your subject pages you also find three featured boxes: Featured, New and Noteworthy, and Top Downloads. If you are not looking for a specific course, see if there is anything that sparks your interest. Since these are the only way of finding courses and lectures under subjects, you might have a hard time finding the specific course you need. In this case, you may want to use search or navigate by Education Provider.

Finding Courses by School
In the home page of iTunes U at the top right you’ll find a Navigation box titled “iTunes U Quick Links.” You’ll also find these same links available under subject pages at the bottom left, called “Find Education Providers.” You can click the education level at which your desired university is under: Universities & Colleges, Beyond Campus, and K-12. From there you will be taken to a list of universities listed alphabetically. There you will find the course and lecture listings they have available.

iTunes Power Search
One powerful tool for finding the exact lecture or course you are looking for, is the iTunes Power Search. You can find the link for this in the same navigation box on the home page as you did for the school search: the “iTunes U Quick Links.” This provides you with a specific search function where you can enter the Title, Description, and the Institution to dig up what you are looking for.

And don’t forget that browsing featured and top downloaded materials is a great way to spark a new interest or learn something you never thought you might want to know.