This semester, USC added to its reputation as one of the most high-tech campuses in the country by taking lectures to a place where students are already directing their full attention: their iPods.
The university recently launched USC on iTunes U, a home base for mobile learning that brings audio and video podcasts directly to students. iTunes U is a free online service hosted by Apple. It offers colleges and universities a central web location where faculty can upload lectures to iTunes and students can download them to their computers, or transfer them directly to their iPods. Students can also upload assignments of their own.
Currently, 16 faculty members are using the system, including USC Law Professor Tom Lyon.
USC Law’s senior web architect, Nasi Peretz, designed the authentication and authorization technology of USC on iTunes U.
“It required bringing together several information systems to come up with one seamless, secure authentication and authorization mechanism,” Peretz said.
While other schools such as Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, also are using iTunes U, Peretz designed USC’s version to use a new technology that enables students to log in with their university username and password and view only the classes for which they are registered.
The technology allows students to sign on without passing any sensitive data to any non-USC entities, says Suh-Pyng Ku, chief technology officer for Enhanced Learning at USC and professor in the USC Marshall School of Business.
“After a quick download, the student only has to connect their iPod or MP3 device, and their lectures are now ready to be heard (and watched) on-the-go,” Ku said.
USC on iTunes U will likely serve as a model for other schools seeking individualized access with higher security. This week, USC on iTunes U will be the focus of a session at the International Quality and Productivity Center’s ContentWeek 2007 summit. Otto Khera, business development manager for USC’s Center for Scholarly Technology, will present USC’s integration of media rich content on iTunes U and security as a new model for higher education, on a day of the summit that is solely focused on Web 2.0 topics.
After two months in development, USC on iTunes U rolled out in a pilot program last semester, with a handful of faculty conducting a test drive of the system to work out any kinks.
Since launching this semester, USC on iTunes U has attracted faculty users from across the university.
“The list is growing, and every day we get more,” Peretz said.
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