iTunes U provides access to a wide range of digital audio and video content via the iTunes Store, Apple's online music, video, and podcast service.

Podcasts are audio and video content available on a subscription basis. Subscribing ensures you are notified when new content is available. You do not need an iPod to listen to, or watch, podcasts, just a computer (and it doesn’t have to be a Mac). Podcasts are easy to create and are an effective means of distributing rich educational materials. Supplementing text with audio and video will help students remember what they have learned.

FAU's iTunes U site includes:

• A public area featuring special lectures, news, athletic events, music and more (available through www.fau.com)
• A private area that includes course‐based materials that are linked to Blackboard sites and are only accessible to students enrolled in those courses

IRM has recently installed a new tool that allows instructors to upload audio and video files to the private area within the university's iTunes U section.

Once uploaded, the tool will create a link between a faculty member's Blackboard course site and his or her private course-specific content without having to direct students to a separate login. If you are a faculty member and are interested in finding out how to use this tool in your Blackboard course, click here for more information.