Apple has posted an introduction video to iTunes U. If you are still not quite sure what it is and how to use it, the video covers it all. You can check out the video here:
An Introduction to iTunes U
If you are interested in checking out SMU on iTunes U, it's available here: iTunes.smu.edu
I thought some of you might find this article of interest.
iTunes U: Find college lectures next to pop stars
By John Boudreau, Mercury News
At Apple's iTunes online store, Britney Spears and Shakespeare are separated by just a few clicks. While an episode of "Desperate Housewives" will cost $1.99, a series of lectures by renowned University of California-Berkeley philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus is absolutely free.
To visit SMU's iTunes U site, click here.
To see what else is available, try here.
Ever recorded a podcast or lecture with two or more speakers?
How 'bout the sound?
Everyone spoke at the same level, right?
Really, no quite talkers and they all talked in to the mic.
I wish.
Afterwards, have you tried even out all those levels?
It's a pain.
Want some help?
The fine people at The Conversations Network, a listener-supported non-profit podcast network, have a wonderfully FREE tool called Levelator that might just help. It's specifically optimized for speech and works to correct uneven volume levels. Just drag & drop a WAV or AIFF file (sorry, no MP3 or AAC) into it's window and it does the rest.
I just tried it with a test file and it really works. Listen here:
30 second sound bite before using Levelator
30 second sound bite after using Levelator
Notice how you can clearly hear Dee's correction about basements. Good stuff.
Give it try.
It's free and available for Mac, Windows, and Linux (Ubuntu).
To find out more about The Conversations Network and to download Levelator, just go to http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/
This message was sent out today from Apple about iTunes U and iTunes 8:
On September 9, Apple announced a new version of iTunes and the iPod nano (4th generation). Using iTunes 8 with a screen reader such as VoiceOver on Mac OS X, or GW Micro WIndow-Eyes 7 on Windows XP and Windows Vista, blind and visually impaired students, faculty, and staff can browse, search, buy, download and play content from iTunes U and many areas of the iTunes Store. In addition, the new iPod nano (4th generation) features spoken menus, so it can be used to navigate and play tracks downloaded from the iTunes Store and iTunes U just by listening.You can learn more about iTunes 8 and iPod nano at www.apple.com and about the accessibility of Apple's products at www.apple.com/accessibility. iTunes 8 can be downloaded at www.apple.com/itunes/download/
As a reminder, in July, Apple added the ability to provide readily useable text descriptions (i.e., "Alt Text") for the images within your iTunes U site. Apple strongly urges you to provide Alt Text so that these descriptions can be made available to your students on your iTunes U pages.
If you have any questions about iTunes U or how to use this new ability, please feel free to contact us directly at itunes-u-request@apple.com.
Sincerely,
The iTunes U Team
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Academic Computing & Technology in the iTunes U category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
LMS is the previous category.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.