WHAT?
"...iTunes U is a free service available to qualifying two- and four-year accredited, degree-granting, public or private colleges and universities in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Universities and Colleges must enter into an iTunes U Service Agreement before being eligible to use the iTunes U service. Apple reserves the right to determine eligibility. (Source)"
WHAT ABOUT US?
WHAT ABOUT US?
Yes, the rest of the world!!!! Do, I need to mention another 175 countries. Why should applying for iTunes U services be discriminated based on country. It is simply insulting!!!! I took it with a pinch of insult in 2009 (explored possibilities), and hoped that eventually iTunes would open up their free services to Universities beyond those 21 countries, but until today (June 2010), nothing seem to have changed (please correct me, if I am wrong!).
But let's be positive! We are talking about iTunes U and the legend Steve Jobs here, so let's hope they will change for the better, and really carry out the democratization of expertise and learning beyond this little world of 21.
But let's be positive! We are talking about iTunes U and the legend Steve Jobs here, so let's hope they will change for the better, and really carry out the democratization of expertise and learning beyond this little world of 21.
#itunesuwish
To help them realize our frustration and learning needs (to share, too!), let's spread our wishes using social media (Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) to change iTunes U insulting application requirements based on country. Perhaps our crowd intelligence and initiative can speed up the process for enabling...
iTunes U services FREE for ALL!
Let's make a difference, join the #itunesuwish for change :)
Latest News
- 06/16/2010 - iTunes U Distribution Limited (Open Education News)
- 06/14/2010 - iTunes U Services For ALL! Join the #itunesuwish... (OLDaily, Stephen Downes)
2 comments:
Great job in highlighting the imbalance in iTunes U Services! Apple's attitude of having a closed systems (they won't have Flash on their systems?!?!) is detrimental to everyone in the environment. Now there is no apparent reason why iTunes U Services should not be free for all Universities throughout the world.
If all else fails lets hope Google will pick up the ball that Apple dropped and implement similar and better services. They have the power of cloud computing and the potential in that for a learning platform is immense!
Well done to you. Apple's attitude only reinforces their image as being makers of shiny toys for rich kids.
Openness may be the future, but in the meantime let's also ensure more equitable access to closed and proprietary
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