iTunes users seem to generally fall into two camps when it comes to iTunes U: those who love it and use it all the time and those who are barely aware of its existence. As an iTunes U user myself, I never got the impression that the people who love it make up that large a group, but Apple's latest announcement has me rethinking that image. The company said on Thursday that there have been more than one billion iTunes U content downloads, with users consuming lectures, reading material, quizzes, and more from various educational institutions around the globe.
iTunes U was launched before the iPhone—mid-2007—though it has remained mostly under the radar until recent years. The original goal was to provide an easy digital medium for schools to distribute educational content for free. Once colleges and universities started getting on board, however, the general public began taking a greater interest in downloading courses and individual lectures.
In early 2012, Apple released a separate iTunes U app for iOS devices, splitting out the iTunes U content and functionality from iTunes into its own area on iPhones and iPads. It's unclear whether the app's release helped to boost the popularity of iTunes U, but at the very least it's likely it helped raise awareness about the offerings.
According to Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, there are more than 250,000 current students enrolled in courses that are on iTunes U—and undoubtedly plenty more users from the Internet. There are more than 2,500 public courses available "and thousands of private courses" from universities like Oxford, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Purdue (BTFU!), and others.
If you haven't had the opportunity yet, now's a good time to wander over to that section of the iTunes Store (or download the iTunes U app on your iOS device) to see what courses might strike your fancy. There are even some iPhone development courses available through iTunes U for those of you trying to learn how to break into the App Store.
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