iTunes U in 2015
Being ready for Day 1: Wednesday 28 January
Dear Colleagues…
By now you should have received a fancy email on Personalising your iTunes U Courses (unless you don’t teach a Year 9, 10 or 11 class). Please forgive any errors I may have made in apportioning classes or subjects to you —timetabling is a dark art.
In two weeks you will have had three days facing classes of Year 9, 10 or 11 students, all of whom will be equipped with an iPad, and you will have been giving them the enrol code for your iTunes U course. If another member of your department has prepared the course for teachers in a specific year group, then they will have shared it to you and you will have assumed ownership of it and personalised it as a unique means of communication between you and your class.
Course Enrol Codes, Images & Introductory Modules
Please note the following:
- I will be asking you to send me the enrol code of each of your courses by the end of Friday 23 January (new day-boy and day-girl orientation day) — just one week away.
- I am relying on HODs to ensure that their departments are ready for each of these year levels from day one.
- I am also relying on HODs to ensure that all Year 9 classes are using their department's introductory module — I’ve already seen some excellent examples.
- A number of courses still require a course image. I will send these to the teachers concerned before the start of term. If you have any suggestions as to the image you would like or have found one (that is at least 600 x 600 pixels, free of copyright, and in keeping with the established aesthetic), then please let me know. (If you are unsure of the established aesthetic, you could start by typing 'ECM cover art’ into a Google image search.)
Some examples…
It is vital that we all establish consistent use of iTunes U as a means of delivering our courses and communicating with our students. They, in turn, will benefit from using it as an effective means of…
- developing a sense of a course's outline and structure
- receiving regular notifications about prep, assessments, field trips, etc.
- knowing learning objectives and assessment criteria
- note-taking (and synchronising notes made in their iBooks)
- accessing course materials
- extending their learning by accessing resources on the internet or through iTunes U
- being informed about administrative and regulatory material
- collaborating in discussion forums
If you haven’t had a chance to look at the thousands of resources on iTunes U then I encourage you to do so. Remember that you can link to any material on the public iTunes U — podcasts (video or audio) are a particularly good resource — or free material in the iBooks, Music or App Stores.
Ask for help!
I will be offering on-going opportunities to demonstrate how to utilise the potential of iTunes U during the coming term, but please don’t hesitate to ask at any point if you need help, especially over the coming week.
Your eVangelist should also be able to help out and I will be available on the Friday and Tuesday new student orientation days for any last-minute assistance.
— David