Sound Learning: iTunes U

Public Radio for Your Classroom — Now Easier to Access and Use!
Energize your classes with Minnesota Public Radio content — now easier than ever to browse, preview and download from iTunes U, a free, dedicated area of the iTunes Store featuring educational content. Collected under the American Public Media banner — MPR's national distribution arm.

Browse American Public Media on iTunes U >>
Download iTunes (a free software from Apple) >>

Flexible Teaching Tools
Teachers and students now have subject-searchable access to a deep collection of audio journalism that brings to life a broad range of topics in Social Sciences, History, World Religions, Arts & Literature, Science & Health, Environment, and Business & Economics.

Printable transcripts are available for many programs, as well as discussion questions for select programs. Audio files and transcripts are yours to download, email, burn to CD or print — whatever is useful for you and your students.

Easy to Use, Familiar to Students
iTunes is familiar to almost every teenager so little time is spent learning how to use the software or working through technical glitches.

How to Use iTunes U
(Click on thumbnails for larger images.)

Step 1: Get to iTunes U
iTunes U is a free section in the iTunes Store
- Launch iTunes and click on the iTunes Store link.
- Follow the link to iTunes U in the upper left corner.
Step 2: Find "Beyond Campus"
- Scroll down to "Beyond Campus" and click on the American Public Media link.
Step 3: Browse by Subject

Click on a subject to see the available topics.
Click a relevant topic to access the audio and transcripts within that topic
To get back to American Public Media's iTunes U homepage, just click anywhere in the breadcrumb path at the top of the page.

Links to Additional Resources
Each topic page contains links to companion web sites featuring additional content and resources including annotated program notes, reading lists, and timelines. Look for links just to the right of the topic's image.

How do I use APM content from iTunes U?
Preview Audio
There are two ways to access information about each audio file before downloading it:

Double click on the track title to preview or play the audio immediately. Although full file isn't downloaded to your computer, you can pause, play, rewind, and cue the audio using the iTunes controls.
Right click on the audio file and select "Get Info" for a short text description of that audio file

Get & Store
To download an audio or transcript file to your computer, click "get".

iTunes stores the file in your iTunes library, and creates a new playlist for the topic (note that transcripts and audio files are displayed in different playlists).

To play an audio file simply access the file in the playlist, and double-click its title.

To display a transcript, double-click it and your PDF viewer will automatically launch.

Send a link directly to iTunes U content
To send a link directly to a specific topic page in iTunes U, right-click the file and select "Copy iTunes Store URL". You can then paste the file's location into an email or your course materials.

Mix & Burn — Make Your Own American Pubic Media CDs
Audio you download from iTunes U can be burned to a CD for playback on any CD player. Simply choose a topic's playlist and then click "Burn Disc."

Insert a blank CD and you're minutes away from having your own portable American Public Media show to use with your colleagues and students.

>> Visit American Public Media's iTunes U site
>> More info on iTunes U from Apple.com

>> See our entire collection of classroom-ready features

Resources for using iTunes U

American Public Media's
iTunes U site

Apple's iTunes U documentation

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