The College has become an iTunes University.
p. This initiative began in October 2006 as a pilot program for the School of Business, the Law School, the Modern Languages Department, Swem Library and VIMS to upload media content.
The venture is now expanding to the rest of the College.
p. William and Mary on iTunes U offers unlimited access to both audio and video content for the members of the College community.
p. Though the program is run through the popular iTunes music software, iTunes provides no free music downloads.
Instead, the program will allow faculty and administrative groups to upload content onto the program.
p. On the Tuned Into Campus section, there is a wide variety of student films and features from Swem Library.
p. In the Academic Programs section, professors from Russian language courses have uploaded songs, videos and presentations that correlate with course materials.
p. There is also a video tour of the new Admissions Office.
In all, there are 182 items in the Tuned Into Campus section and 28 items in the Academic Programs section.
p. More than 250 colleges and universities use iTunes U, according to the College IT department.
p. There are uploads of various lectures and presentations given by major figures such as Al Gore and Steve Jobs.
p. Most of these videos are available to students of all schools.
However, unlike other schools, the College has not taken drastic steps to push iTunes as means of disseminating course-related content.
p. Since the initial start of the pilot program, the Russian Department is the only academic department to utilize iTunes U.
Susan Evans, director of web and communication services for the IT department, speculates that because of the podcasting and media uploading capabilities within Blackboard, many faculty have been hesitant to switch to a new system.
p. Once the faculty becomes more accustomed to the system, Evans said she expects a dramatic increase in media content.
However, Evans noted that the College plans to take a more active role in promoting iTunes U as a means of utilizing course content.
p. The IT department has received a litany of phone calls and e-mail messages requesting more information on the program.
Evans anticipates that as professors become more attuned to the popularity of iTunes among students they will become more active in using its media capabilities.
p. The IT Department has also considered opening up iTunes U to student organizations.