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Apple plans to shut down iBooks Author and iTunes U
Apple is discontinuing two products you’ve probably forgotten about: iBooks Author and iTunes U.
Stanford releases Developing iOS 8 Apps with Swift course on iTunes U
Stanford has released a new course for iTunes University that will be a godsend to aspiring developers. Developing iOS 8 Apps with Swift currently consists of two lectures and accompanying slide shows, each clocking in at a little over an hour. Here's the complete overview. Updated for iOS 8 and Swift. Tools and APIs required to build applications for the iPhone and iPad platforms using the iOS SDK. User interface design for mobile devices and unique user interactions using multi-touch technologies. Object-oriented design using model-view-controller paradigm, memory management, Swift programming language. Other topics include: animation, mobile device power management, multi-threading, networking and performance considerations. Prerequisites: C language and object-oriented programming experience exceeding Programming Abstractions level, and completion of Programming Paradigms. Recommended: UNIX, graphics, databases. As always with iTunes U, this course is free to download in the iTunes Store.
iTunes U update will bring course creation and student discussion to iPad app
Apple today announced an update to iTunes U that'll bring a new course creation tool and support for student discussion to the iPad version of the iTunes U app. iTunes U is the educational arm of iTunes that allows teachers from K-12 school districts, universities and colleges to create courses that are open either to students in their classroom or available publicly. For the first time, teachers will be able to use the iPad app to create a full course directly from their iPad. Students also will benefit from a new discussion feature that allows them to collaborate with teachers and other students in their online classes. These new features will be available July 8th in an update that will roll out to the iPad version of the iTunes U app. iTunes U is available for free from the iOS App Store. Additional details are available in the press release below. Show full PR text Apple Announces Updates to iTunes U Brings Course Creation, Management for Teachers & Student Discussions To iPad CUPERTINO, California-June 30, 2014-Apple® today announced updates to iTunes U®, bringing educators and students great new tools to build and experience educational content on iPad®. Beginning July 8, teachers using the free iTunes U app can create, edit and manage entire courses directly on iPad for the first time, and students will discover new ways to collaborate including the ability to start class discussions and ask questions right from their iPad. "Education is at the core of Apple's DNA and iTunes U is an incredibly valuable resource for teachers and students," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "iTunes U features an amazing selection of academic materials for everyone around the world. Now, with the ability to better manage and discuss educational content, learning becomes even more personalized on iPad." The new in-app updates to iTunes U give teachers full course creation capabilities on iPad, with the ability to directly add rich content and learning materials from iWork®, iBooks® Author or any of the over 75,000 educational apps available for iPad. Taking advantage of the built-in camera on iPad, teachers can also capture photos and videos to incorporate real-world subject matter into any course, making relevant content available to all students in an instant. "iTunes U is the most powerful destination for bringing the entire educational experience to life on iPad," said Fraser Speirs, head of computing and IT at Cedars School of Excellence in Scotland. "By freeing teachers to create and organize courses right on iPad, educators can be better focused on enabling student participation both with the content and one another." Students using iPad and enrolled in private iTunes U courses will now have everything they need to fully collaborate with their classmates and teachers. With Discussions in the iTunes U app, students can automatically follow classroom discussions and join conversations on new topics, or set up push notifications for when new topics are started or replies are added to active exchanges. Teachers can participate in forums too, and have the ability to moderate discussions by removing any off-topic messages or replies. "Discussions in iTunes U puts the potential for thoughtful exploration and collaboration into the hands of every one of our students," said Larry Reiff, a teacher from Roslyn High School in New York. "iPad and iTunes U continue to provide students with the tools they need to build knowledge and demonstrate their learning." iTunes U helps educators create courses including lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and more for millions of iOS users around the world. With over 750,000 individual learning materials available on the iTunes U app, iTunes U is the world's largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools and prominent organizations. Today, thousands of educational institutions are hosting over 7,500 public and thousands of private courses encompassing the arts, sciences, health and medicine, education, business and more. Educators can create iTunes U courses in 69 countries and make their courses and educational content accessible via the iTunes U app in 155 countries. In addition to the thousands of individual iTunes U learning materials found on the iTunes Store®, over 500,000 apps designed specifically for iPad are now available on the App Store℠. Additionally, with the free iBooks Author app on the Mac App Store℠, nearly 30,000 Multi-Touch™ books have been created by independent teachers and publishers worldwide. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Apple brings iBooks and iTunes U educational tools to more than 50 new countries
It's no secret that Apple likes its products to be a big part of the educational sector, not just in the US, but all across the world. With that in mind, the Cupertino-based outfit today is broadening the reach of some of its education-focused software, announcing that more than 50 countries are gaining access to iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager. With the addition of these new markets, which include ones in Asia, Europe and Latin America, Apple's now making Textbooks and Course Manager accessible in 51 and 70 countries, respectively. As you might expect, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue is thrilled to bring these tools to more people, stating that he believes things like iBooks Textbooks "represent a monumental shift in learning because they engage multiple capacities of each individual student."
Apple pushes out iOS 7.0.4 update alongside redesigned iBooks and iTunes U apps
Apple may not have had all of its own apps overhauled in time for iOS 7's launch, but it's slowly but surely bringing them up to speed. The latest to get a complete redesign are iBooks and iTunes U, which expectedly now look a fair bit like Apple's Newsstand app and the App Store itself. What's more, the company's also pushed out the latest minor update to iOS 7, which now stands at 7.0.4 -- it promises a fix to the FaceTime issue that has been plaguing some users, along with the usual range of other "bug fixes and improvements." Not to be left out, iPod touch users unable to upgrade to iOS 7 can also download an update to iOS 6 that promises to remedy the same FaceTime problem.
iBooks for iOS update ditches the wooden shelves, iTunes U updated too
Apple has updated its iBooks and iTunes U iOS apps with an iOS 7 look and feel. The new iBooks app ditches the wooden shelves for a Newsstand-like frosted-glass background. The store portion of the app has also gotten a complete makeover, now mimicking the look of the App Store and iTunes Store apps. Not all skeuomorphic details are gone, however. Page curls remain. As for iTunes U, the app now has a very similar look and feel to the new iBooks app, with frosted shelves and a Catalog where users can download new content that looks similar in style to the App Store. Both apps have new icons. The only other app Apple needs to update with an iOS 7 look is Find My Friends. Both iBooks and iTunes U are free downloads.
Apple updates iTunes U app with fixes, pull to refresh
Apple has issued a small update to its iTunes U app. The app allows users to access popular courses from major universities and also offers other free education classes from third-party sources. While a majority of the latest iTunes U update is dedicated to bug fixes, a welcome new feature is that iTunes U now uses the popular pull-to-refresh gesture to check for new course updates. Here's everything the release notes is new to the latest release: Checks for course updates when you pull to refresh the notepad. Resolves an issue that may prevent courses from updating. Fixes a problem where iTunes U may unexpectedly quit when opening the Catalog repeatedly. Improves support for Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Spanish. iTunes U is a free download.
Daily Update for February 28, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
iTunes U tops 1 billion downloads
One part of iTunes that many people overlook is iTunes U. Though consumers may not be aware of the educational resources available on iTunes U, educators and students have taken notice. According to Apple, iTunes U student rolls have exceeded 250,000 and its content has now topped 1 billion downloads. iTunes U is a section of iTunes that is used by thousands of universities and K-12 schools worldwide to offer both public and private courses. Courses include lectures, assignments, books and quizzes that are accessible on iOS devices. Leading the way on iTunes U is Stanford University and The Open University, each of which has surpassed 60 million content downloads. You can read more about iTunes U and its influence on global online learning in the press release on Apple's website.
Stanford offers free iOS app development course on iTune U again
Stanford is offering its online iOS App development course starting this month, according to a report in MacRumors. Coding Together: Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad is one of the most popular courses on iTunes U and its latest version steps students through iOS 6 development. The course uses iTunes U to deliver the course lecture videos and the Piazza social learning platform for student collaboration. Piazza is used in Stanford's campus-based course and is new to the online course. The free iOS course starts January 22 and runs through March 28. Registration ends on February 1st. Some coding experience is required.
Apple updates nearly every app for iOS 6, sneaks in key GarageBand, iPhoto and Podcasts updates
If you didn't already know that iOS 6 was out in the wild, Apple just delivered a torrent of mobile app updates to make it perfectly clear. Virtually every app that isn't preloaded now has explicit iOS 6 support to keep it running smoothly, and some of the upgrades are thankfully more than just skin-deep compatibility tweaks. Among the highlights are Podcasts' new subscription list syncing through iCloud, ringtone creation with GarageBand and iPhoto support for 36.5-megapixel image editing on the latest devices -- you know, for that moment you need to tweak Nikon D800 photos on an iPhone 5. We're including direct links to a few of the juicier updates, but we'd recommend checking AppleInsider's comprehensive list to see everything that you're missing.
iTunes U opens up limited accounts to K-12 teachers
During its Q3 2012 earnings conference call, Apple revealed that the quarter was its best yet for educational sales of the Mac and the iPad. To capitalize on this expansion into education, Apple updated iTunes U and now allows K-12 teachers to create private courses for their students. Previously, teachers could add their lectures to Apple's repository, but only if their school or institution was enrolled in the iTunes U program. Now, all K-12 teachers can sign in with their Apple ID and create private courses using the free iTunes Course Manager web app. Public courses, however, still require school or institution enrollment. Teachers can add traditional course material like a syllabus, handouts, and quizzes. They can also add audio and video recordings of their lectures and point to reference material that's available in the iBookstore, App Store and iTunes. The app is solely for disseminating course content and not management as there is no grading or attendance features built into the app. Teacher can send a code or the URL of the course to students, who can enroll in the course and access content via the iTunes U app on the iPad and iPhone. They can read the course material and even take timestamped notes when listening to a lecture. Interested teachers can read more about iTunes U on Apple's website. [Via AllThingsD]
Apple updates some iOS apps for better Mountain Lion and iCloud compatibility
Mac apps aren't the only ones getting updates today. Apple has released updates to Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and iTunes U for iOS, improving compatibility with iCloud, according to a post on MacStories. Pages, Keynote and Numbers have all been updated to version 1.6.1. According to the update notes, the new apps work "with iCloud to make documents automatically available between your iOS device and [Pages/Keynote/Numbers] on your Mac. Changes you make to a document on one device are instantly available on the other." The update also requires that Pages 4.2, Numbers 2.2, and Keynote 5.2 be installed on your Mac. iTunes U 1.2 adds the ability to search from within posts, assignments, notes and materials for any subscribed course. There's also a new sharing sheet in iTunes U for sharing your favorite courses with friends via Twitter, Messages, and Mail. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Apple ups the resolution on iTunes U and iBooks 2 for new iPad
Apple certainly had a lot of bases to cover at yesterday's new iPad unveiling, so some minor details were bound to slip through the cracks. While app suites like iLife and iWork got to bask in the Yerba Buena spotlight touting enhanced resolutions for that Retina Display, the company's decidedly less high-profile education software was also treated a face-lift -- just without the fanfare. According to a report on CNET, prospective owners of Cupertino's latest tablet will get to download an upgraded version of iBooks 2 and iTunes U that take advantage of the new 2048 x 1536 9.7-inch screen. Aside from the visual tweaks, only iBooks 2 has been imbued with extra features, adding a touch-to-highlight function and a refined page search that unites both print and ebook layouts. You'll be able to check out the 264ppi panache for yourself when those slates ship out next week.
Samsung's Learning Hub demonstrates a commitment to education, profits
Samsung's R&D department has been working overtime as it strives to break the idea it copies wholesale ideas from its competition. Yesterday we heard word about its planned new cloud service and today it's announced that it'll be unveiling a unique education-focused app for Galaxy Tabs 8.9 and 10.1. Learning Hub will provide free materials from 30 major educational establishments from elementary schools through to universities, although there's no word on what certificates you'll be able to earn at the end of your course. The program will expand to other devices in the Galaxy family later on, once the company's done showing off the software at MWC.
iBooks Author sees 600,000 initial downloads, 3 million for iTunes U app
Apple announced on its quarterly earnings call this afternoon that iBooks Author had seen 600,000 downloads since its unveiling last week. The folks in Cupertino also mentioned that iTunes U has seen 3 million app downloads, feeling a bump from the announcement a few days ago. One other interesting tidbit: currently, 1.5 million iPads have been deployed in schools. We'd surmise that those numbers will continue to increase as iBooks 2 and iBook Author start to pound the pavement in the months ahead.
Apple publishes iTunes U support pages
Another piece of the Apple education puzzle has fallen into place. The company has published a set of special iTunes U support web pages to help with questions from users of the new iTunes U app, from teachers who are using the iTunes U Course Manager, and from administrators who use the iTunes U Public Site Manager. The iTunes U app support pages provide information on how to use the new app or access iTunes U through iTunes on Mac or PC. According to Apple, "iTunes U Course Manager is a web-based tool that allows instructors to create and distribute courses on iTunes U. Instructors at K12 school districts as well as colleges and universities whose institutions have an iTunes U site can get access to iTunes U Course Manager through their iTunes U Public Site Manager administrator." As you'd expect, the support pages for iTunes U Course Manager are quite a bit more detailed than those for the iTunes U app, and cover everything from creating an instructor profile to editing a course. Finally, the pages for iTunes U Public Site Manager (the tool that iTunes U site administrators use to manage their public content within the iTunes Store) cover the gamut from system requirements to marketing a public site and creating a properly-formatted feed. The new support pages are a good way for students, educators, and administrators seeking information about iTunes U to start getting answers from the source.
Colleges enthused as iTunes classes go live
There's a pretty high level of excitement flowing from Thursday's arrival of the iTunes U app. Harvard University is now adding its science + cooking lectures from its school of Engineering and Science for what will likely be an interesting public offering. Titles like 'Olive Oil and Viscosity' and 'Meat Glue Mania' sound intriguing. Anyone with an iPad or iPhone can use the app and access the free classes on iTunes U. Having this new standalone app should be a boon to users and educators. The Inside Higher Ed website is highlighting material from Harrisburg Community College, where there are free courses in differential equations and astronomy. It's the first iTunes U offering from a community college. Apple approached some major educational institutions last year to start preparing the courses, and the app contains content from places like Duke, Cornell and Yale universities. Older versions of iTunes U, introduced in 2006, offered audio and video podcasts, but this new app provides self-contained courses allowing users to download handouts and worksheets they can reference while listening to a recorded lecture.
Daily Update for January 19, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple's education announcement: what you need to know
Today's education event was a reasonably small one, so far as Apple pressers go, held at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, with a smattering of media representatives in attendance. It arrives on the tails of some already hearty numbers for the company, including the existence of 20,000 learning-themed apps and 1.5 million iPads currently in use for education. But Cupertino's plans for the future of learning are grand indeed, including the desire to "reinvent the textbook" via iBooks 2. And while our expectations weren't particularly grandiose going into this morning, we were, indeed, pretty impressed with what we saw. So, what did you miss if you happened to sleep in late today? Find out, after the break.
