iTunes is a powerful application that serves as a reservoir of educational content for the classroom. It gives students and teachers an easy, intuitive way to browse, search and organise their audio and video content. And because it includes the iTunes Store, the world’s largest download store, it’s a great place to find educational content that can be downloaded to a computer or mobile learning device, such as iPod. iTunes, free for both Mac and PC, makes growing your educational content fast and easy.

From audiobooks to podcasts.

The iTunes Store offers a wealth of educational content, both commercial and free. You can purchase audiobooks from authors as diverse as Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren, and Toni Morrison. Audiobooks to learn almost any language. Periodicals from the Harvard Business Review to Scientific American. Free educational podcasts covering subjects as diverse as professional development, science, math, ELL, and music. As well as podcasts by students — from K-12 to Higher Education.

Content where and when it’s needed.

iTunes brings podcasting to the classroom and beyond. Students and educators can subscribe, listen to, or view podcast content on their Macs or PCs with the free iTunes application or transfer it to iPod for listening or viewing on the go. They can also upload their own podcasts and share them with the world. The podcast directory within the iTunes Store provides access to over 65,000 podcast feeds from around the world, across all subject areas, including over 6,000 education-specific podcasts.

Organised for learning.

Students and teachers can organise their content into playlists, such as a Spanish language playlist for quicker access within iTunes and on iPod. For example, a student could create a playlist of Spanish language dialogues and vocabulary for review.

Make it your own.

Once you import and download all your content, iTunes lets you manage it any way you please. Create playlists to study and learn. Sync everything — even Outlook contacts and calendars on Windows PCs — to your iPod. Even set parental controls to ensure young students learn only what they should.