Eight months after being endorsed, iTunesU is now officially a resource for the Penn community.
The Undergraduate Assembly brought in Apple representatives last Friday to discuss and spread awareness about the program.
iTunesU is an online digital media database located in the iTunes Store, accessible through any version of iTunes.
The database allows department administrators and Information Technology workers to upload audio and video files to the system, from which students can access and download them to their iPods.
College Houses and Academic Services, Kelly Writers House, Penn Libraries and University Communication currently have tracks on the iTunesU.
The Undergraduate Assembly is working with student groups to add videos and audio from their events to the program, and class lectures may be added in a few years.
But before student groups jump on board, organizing administrators must establish guidelines for what types of videos can be added.
UA member and Wharton junior Jason Lee, who was heavily involved with bringing iTunesU to students, said uploading entire lectures is more controversial since that has the potential to deter students from attending classes and to create issues of infringement regarding lecture content.
"There is a lot of uncertainty and hesitation to uploading lectures because it's a foreign idea to professors," Lee said. "Such a change is bound to be met with resistance."
But many students say worries about falling attendance should not be an issue that prevents professors from uploading lecture recordings.
"People will still go to class," College sophomore Kevin Burke said. "It's more engaging when there's a real person in front of you, and it's easier to pay attention."
In addition, Apple account executive Mike Wolk said many schools have been hosting some content on a private server in response to concerns about protecting property rights for lectures.
Right now, all of Penn's database is on a public server, fully accessible to anyone. If Penn were to add lectures, they would only be available to the University community.
After the UA unanimously voted in February to launch iTunesU and successfully conducted a test-run in August, administrators and UA members decided that it should be a permanent resource.
During the test run, students downloaded about 200 tracks per week, Since Oct. 6, the average number of downloads has jumped up to 2,400 a week.
"Penn is one of the most successful iTunesU sites out there," Wolk said.
- Staff Writer Jody Pollock contributed reporting to this article.
