Class lectures to be available for podcast download

Messy notes or studying for a test might not be such a bad thing this semester. \nIU has signed an agreement with Apple Computer Inc. to make lectures and other content available to students online over iTunes U.\nStanford, the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley already use iTunes U, a service schools can use to include university information in podcast form.\nITunes U is a service Apple offers that allows universities to use a site for storage and distribution of files, said Beth Van Gordon, a University Information Technology Services spokeswoman.\nThe service is free to the University and is another opportunity to make IU available after normal business hours, she said. IU and Apple have not determined the exact date the service will launch, but it will be sometime this spring, Van Gordon said.\nShe said some professors already use podcasting through Oncourse, but iTunes U offers more possibilities. IU's iTunes U content will be available across the globe, giving IU more "worldwide exposure."\nSome content will require students to use their IU usernames and passwords to gain access, but other areas will be available to the public.\nITunes U is used for content such as faculty lectures, interviews and music. Van Gordon said all general-purpose classrooms are equipped, so faculty can record their lectures live and upload them to a Web server. While there is currently not much video equipment in classrooms, Van Gordon said she's "sure it'll be right around the corner."\nSeveral IU schools are already creating and hosting podcasts, including the Jacobs School of Music, the School of Law, the Office of Academic Affairs and the School of Education.\nIn December, PC Magazine, in partnership with the Princeton Review, named IU the most wired campus of all publicly supported universities nationally. Van Gordon said this builds on top of that reputation.\n"It stands to reason with all the technology available that we use it," she said.\nThe Centers for Teaching and Learning on each of IU's campuses are available and ready to help professors learn about the new service and how to post content. The centers also offer learning communities, which are groups of faculty who get together and discuss previous experiences with podcasting to learn from one another.