iTunes U Passes One Billion Downloads

Apple’s iTunes U app has surpassed one billion content downloads.

Apple boasts that iTunes U features “the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools and prominent libraries.” The service hosts thousands of private courses from over 1,200 universities and colleges, and 1,200 K-2 schools and districts, as well as 2,500 public courses.

More than 60 percent of the downloads came from outside the United States, Apple said. Content can be accessed from 155 countries, and educators can create courses in 30 countries. These include the recent additions of Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said in a statement:

“It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U. With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before?there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

One professor raved about iTunes U, stating that it allowed students to connect with colleagues in China for research. Over 170,000 students are enrolled in Professor Stokols’ Environmental Psychology course, and Stokols said, “The opportunity to impact so many students who are gaining interest in environmental psychology by taking my free course on iTunes U has been highly rewarding and gratifying for me as an educator and learner.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, iTunes U was released for the iPad and iPhone last January and had garnered about 700 million downloads at that point. The app is available for free, perhaps sweetening the deal for students who may have been reluctant to pay for the service.

According to The Washington Post, Apple first introduced iTunes U in 2007. The Post also reports that app downloads for the iTunes Store in general have topped 40 billion.

You can check out iTunes U in action below:

Have you used iTunes U?