Washington State on iTunes U
High-quality professional development and instructional support are as close
as your smart phone, tablet and desktop when you visit Washington State on
iTunes U. Ready to download-and-go, learn from videos, screencasts and podcasts
developed by Washington educators for the K-12 teaching and learning
environment.
We’re Looking for High-Quality Instructional, Assessment & Professional Development Materials
Video and audio is the media of choice for iTunes U, however, some text-based materials work on this site. All content must pass a quality review that examines the material for technical quality, and its ability to deliver useful instructional support and professional development.
Big Advantages for Washington State Educators
- Superior Indexing & Search. As a channel for educational content, iTunes U delivers fast user recognition with its unique capacity to index and display complex, differentiated resources. And with rigorous attention to metatagging, keywords and labeling, the right content comes up rapidly even when the search terms are not well targeted.
- Popular & Familiar. Students are familiar with iTunes—protocols, navigation and content layers are intuitive. Students will find it easy to find and download iTunes U audio and videos one at a time, or subscribe to entire courses and have new items download automatically as soon as they publish to the site.
- Versatility. Users can reap the benefits of content created and curated by educators, ready to download easily to any Mac, PC, iPod or iPhone.
Categories & Potential Content for iTunes U
| Demonstrations, discussions, tutorials, presentations and lectures work best for audio and video content. |
| Category |
Ideas Suggestions |
|
Instruction |
K-12 subject areas—instructional and RTI strategies, lesson plan activities, instructional support content for students |
Common Core State Standards—CCSS implementation and curricula integration |
Special Education— strategies, activities, approaches |
Internet safety— courseware and materials |
| Assessment |
K-12 subject areas—assessments and assessment strategies |
District and school-based assessment planning |
|
|
| Professional Development |
Leadership, school management and policy |
RTI, school improvement |
Finance and administration |
Principal and teacher evaluation |
| Contributors |
|
| Education |
Educators |
ESDs |
Districts |
OSPI |
| Community-based Organizations |
Professional Associations |
Museums |
Art Galleries |
Public Media |
Digital Formats & Products that Work on iTunes U
Keep in mind that the content you create for iTunes U — primarily audio and video — is designed for playback on devices designed to play music, smart phones, tablets and computers. You must install iTunes on any device not made by Apple.
Audio Podcasts
Discussion, explanation, insight, instructions — anything that lends itself to listening only.
- MP3 is an older compressed audio format. Quality is OK. Count on 1 MB for each minute of content.
- MP3 VBR (Variable Bit Rate) is a more powerful version of the MP3. With VBR, silence and simple sounds compress more than complex sounds, such as reverberation. File size stays small.
- Compression — AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a state-of-the-art, open source format common to the Internet, wireless devices and for digital broadcast. AAC delivers efficient compression (audio files are slow running if not compressed) and high quality sound.
Video
Demonstration, teaching/learning activities, field work
- MPEG-4 Video (Moving Picture Experts Group) is a digital video format designed for delivery over the Internet.
- Compression — H.264 for video content. Much like AAC, H.264 compresses large video files without giving up visual quality.
Screencasts
Record presentations with audio — tutorials, overviews, professional development content
- Screencast-O-Matic is free. Record your presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote and convert to an MP4.
- CamStudio records all screen and audio activity on your computer to create AVI or SWF files. Use a converter to reformat your presentation as an MP4 for iTunes U.
Convert Your Audio Video Files
There are several good media converters that don’t cost any money to download. Here are two
suggestions.
Other Formats
- iTunes U does not support WAV or AIFF file formats for the iPod, iPhone or iPad.
- iTunes U can post and download PDF files. Just keep in mind that PDFs lose
their metadata on iTunes U. To download PDFs on iTunes U, use these two easy
steps. Click “FREE” at the far right of the item. You’ll see the download wheel
turning on the left navigation bar. When it stops, click on iTunes U under
LIBRARIES.
Accessible Audio Video
Hearing and visually impaired users, as well as those who cannot manipulate player controls, need help with audio and video content.
Here’s what we recommend.
- If you have the software, created closed captions for your video content. If you don’t have the software but are interested in moving toward accessible rich media products, Web Accessibility in Mind (WAIM) has a terrific list of applications and tools, some free, that will help you reach people with sensory limitations.
- If you can’t access captioning software, supply a transcript for your video – in print (PDF) and, if you have the time and capacity, submit an audio version, too. We can post both. Transcripts are also useful for users who don’t have the time to watch your video and would rather print it off and read it later.
- Audio-only content – podcasts – needs an accompanying transcript.
- PowerPoint presentations, packaged as videos, must have an audio track and a transcript for ITunes U.
Visually Impaired Users
Apple devices have basic features that meet some accessibility requirements. For the vision-impaired, iTunes U content works with
VoiceOver, the
built-in screen reader on Apple devices. On Windows machines, users can take
advantage of Window-Eyes 7.1 or later for XP and Vista. Check prices before you
buy this product.
Hearing Impaired Users
Change the playback settings in iTunes Preferences to show closed-captioned videos. Select show closed captioning when available.
You can search for close-captioned movies in the iTunes Store — use Power Search and select
Search only for movies that contain closed captioning.
Submit Content to iTunes U
Before you submit, run this user-friendly quality check (Word) to evaluate the media files you would like to publish on Washington State’s iTunes U site.
Download, complete and email the rubric to
jacqueline.wyatt@k12.wa.us. Make sure your full contact information is in the email.
Submission is easy — contact Jacqueline Wyatt, (360) 725-6435 and share some basic information.
- What kind of content have you produced? Audio, video or both? How many files?
- Do the files conform to our technical standards for iTunes U?
- Have you completed the quality check? (Word)
- Is your content close captioned for accessibility or do you have an accompanying transcript?
Our iTunes U team will conduct a second quality check on the audio or video files, you submit. Keep in mind that we will not publish content that delivers little or no value to the K-12 educational community and does meet the requirements of the iTunes U
quality check.
You should be able to send audio and video files by email. However, if there are several files or your files are large, you can save them to disk and send them to us by mail. Or, we’ll have you upload your content to a specific directory on the EdTech Moodle site. Let’s talk first. Contact Jacqueline Wyatt, (360) 725-6435.
Non-Apple Devices Work with iTunes U
Video
- Download iTunes.
- Copy — use the right click menu or control + click on a Mac — the files you want to download. Make sure your device plays .mp4 AAC (MPEG4) files.
Audio
- Copy — use the right click menu or control + click on a Mac — audio tracks in iTunes.
- Choose Convert Selection to MP3 from the menu.
- Copy your files to any MP3 player.
You could also copy any content from iTunes to a CD and play audio or video files from there.
Washington State on iTunes U Web Site Disclaimer
Completeness, Accuracy, Reliability, Suitability & Availability of Content
The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) provides content on the Washington State on iTunes U Web site. While we endeavor to keep the information up-to-date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of content on this Web site or the information, media or related graphics displayed on Washington state site or iTunes in general. Any reliance you place on such information, content, media or graphic image is strictly at your own risk. The information we publish is for general information purposes only.
Loss & Damage
We are not liable for any loss or damage — including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage — or any loss or damage arising from loss of data or profits related to, or in connection with, the use of Washington State on iTunes U.
External Web Site Content
Through this Web site you are able to link to other sites, which are not under the control of OSPI. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of external links does not imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed on these sites.
Up-To-Date Content & Operation
We make every effort to keep Washington State on iTunes U up and running. However, OSPI takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the site when it becomes unavailable temporarily due to technical issues beyond our control.
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