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Teachers may be only now starting to enjoy summer vacation, but Apple is looking ahead to the new school season this fall with a major update to the iTunes U app that makes it easier to do even more on the iPad.
Apple today announced improvements to the iPad functionality of the free iTunes U app that will make life easier on educators and help students collaborate like never before with class discussions.
Starting July 8, teachers will be able to create, edit and manage entire courses for the first time using nothing but the iTunes U app on an iPad. Rich content can be added directly from iWork, iBooks Author and more than 75,000 other third-party educational apps, or captured from the built-in camera.
“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 latest update also improves the educational process for students as well, with new collaboration features between classmates and teachers. Discussions allow students to automatically join and follow classroom conversations, complete with push notifications for new topics or replies to active exchanges.
Content creation will be available to educators in 69 countries, with new courses accessible in 155 countries. Apple also touted more than half a million apps specifically created for the iPad, as well as nearly 30,000 multitouch iBooks created by independent teachers and publishers thus far using the free iBooks Author for Mac software.
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