I have previously written about my frustration With iBooks Author and iTunes U, and Apple has now announced both of these products are being discontinued. iBooks Author will no longer be updated, and iTunes U is being discontinued at the end of 2021.
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Apple today has updated its iTunes U app for iOS with a notable change. The update, which brings the app to version 3.6, follows precedent set by the most recent release of iTunes and moves iTunes U Collections to the Podcasts app…
Apple’s iTunes U Collections will move to Apple Podcasts next month with the release of iTunes 12.7. As the company removes iTunes U from the macOS/PC iTunes app, Apple is encouraging users to access and utilize the content from the iOS or Apple TV app.
iTunes U for iOS has been updated today with three new features. Annotation tools, 1:1 video feedback, and media sharing between apps are all included in version 3.5 released today:
Apple is out today with a new update to its iTunes U app for iPhone and iPad. The latest version of iTunes U adds a document picker that supports cloud services like iCloud Drive as well as others including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box. Adding documents from non-iCloud services requires having their apps installed and being signed in.
Earlier this week, Apple released the first version of its new Classroom iOS app for iPad, and today the company’s other educational app iTunes U has been updated with new features. iOS 9.3 includes initial support for the new Shared iPad feature for classrooms, which makes using iPads between classrooms versus one iPad per each student in school possible, and iTunes U is now optimized with support. Managed Apple IDs are also compatible now, and other iOS 9 features like Spotlight Search which let you find content in apps from the Home screen now have better support. Full release notes below:
Apple today, just a short while after updating iMovie, has pushed an update to its iTunes U app on iOS. The update bumps the app to version 3.1 and includes a handful of new features, enhancements, and under-the-hood fixes.
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Apple’s iTunes U service, a resource for teachers to create and manage educational content for students on iPad, is today receiving a big update that brings a long list of highly requested features. Starting today, teachers and students using the platform will get access to new additions including 1-to-1 discussions, homework hand-in & grade book features, PDF annotations, and more.
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Today Stanford is releasing its first course on Apple’s new Swift programming language for iOS and OS X and it’s available to all through iTunes U.
The course, Developing iOS 8 Apps with Swift, is offered every year by professor Paul Hegarty through Stanford’s School of Engineering but now for the first time has been updated for iOS 8 and Swift. The course includes an Introduction to iOS, Xcode 6, and Swift, More Xcode and Swift, Using MVC in iOS, Swift and Foundation, and more.
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.
The course is available through iTunes U now.
For $29 9to5Toys Specials offers a Mammoth Interactive Swift Course & Xcode 6 Templates
If you want to get quickly up to speed on the basics of creating an Apple Watch app following the release of WatchKit, developer Nick Walter has put a free 50-minute video tutorial online. You can also sign up for a full online course for just $39 on Kickstarter – saving $161 on the likely launch price.
Walter gained a certain amount of fame recently when Forbes reported that he made $66,000 in one month following a similar Kickstarter campaign for a course in making iPhone apps …
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Apple today issued a significant update to its iTunes U application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The application focuses on enhancements for both teachers and students, and the application was first announced by Apple last week alongside the new Back to School retail initiatives.
Here’s what is new for students:
Screenshot showing new iTunes U “Student Discussions” feature
Apple today announced an update to its iTunes U educational app that includes a number of new features for iPad including course creation tools, a Student Discussions feature and improved management tools for teachers.
“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 features will begin rolling out July 8 with the ability for teachers to create and manage previously uploaded lessons directly from the iPad. Apple says the course creation features will let teachers grab content from iWork, iBooks Author or “any of the over 75,000 educational apps available for iPad.” It will also let teachers use the iPad’s camera to include shots and video of real-world items in courses. The course creation feature will be available to educators in all 69 with the materials they create distributed in up 155 countries.
As for students, a new Discussions feature will bring a social element to the app allowing students and teachers to easily interact with one another: 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.
In its press release, Apple said “nearly 30,000 Multi-Touch™ books have been created by independent teachers and publishers worldwide.”
Apple has updated its iTunes U app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with the ability to check for course updates via a pull-to-refresh animation. In line with this tweak, Apple says that today’s update resolves an issue with updating course information. Importantly, today’s update also brings improved language support for Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. The update is free on the iTunes App Store.
Much like Apple did when introducing its standalone iTunes U app at its education event last January, it is also planning to launch a standalone app for podcasts. A report from AllThingsD first mentioned Apple’s plans to include the app in iOS 6 this fall. We also heard that the app is in the works for a release with the final version of iOS 6.
People familiar with Apple’s plans tell me that when its new iOS 6 software becomes widely available this fall, podcasts will have their own app, where users will be able to discover, download and play them on mobile devices. Users who access iTunes via laptop and desktop machines will still find them in that version of iTunes, though.
Apart from the podcast app that AllThingsD noted would allow users to “discover, download and play” on iOS devices, we heard separately that Apple is working on podcast-producing technology, perhaps for inclusion into this app.
As part of its process of breaking the different content categories into standalone apps, many noticed with iOS 6 that Apple removed the Podcasts, Audiobooks, and iTunes U sections from the iTunes app.
Apple released an updated version of its “Apple Configurator” Mac app for deploying multiple iOS devices in a school or business environment. Version 1.0.1 of the tool includes a number of stability and performance enhancements. It also includes fixes for .ipa files, redemption codes, and bookmarks for iTunes U and iBooks, and more.
You can grab the free updated Configurator app from the Mac App Store now. The full list of changes is below:
What’s New in Version 1.0.1
This update improves overall stability and performance and addresses a number of issues, including the following:
Apple created a new section on its website dedicated to the enhanced iTunes U service that was updated during last week’s education announcement. The new web-based resources available at www.apple.com/support/itunes-u contain a wealth of information and how-to topics for educators to implement the new iTunes U digital features into their workflow. Specifically, training course are available for iTunes U Public Site Manager and iTunes U Course Manager, as well as various guides on publishing on iTunes U. Educators and students can also learn about creating different types of educational content, such as audio recordings, video clips, and interactive presentations.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJxZG2Nv4KA&feature=channel_video_title]
With Apple’s education event now behind us, there is a lot to digest here. In addition, today has brought us three interesting software releases: “iBooks 2” and “iTunes U” apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and the “iBooks Author” program for the Mac. If you missed our live coverage and have been wondering why all the fuss, a clip Apple played at the presser should get you up to speed.
Available for viewing by clicking on the above image, the video sports both teachers and students who rave about the mess that is the United States education system and how Apple is arriving to the rescue. As always, the video is heartwarming and it is well worth the 7 minutes and 22 seconds of your time. You may also want to check out this resource on Apple’s website dedicated to iBooks Textbooks for iPad that contains many video tours.