JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 5, 2013 — An instructional course on classroom use of iPad technology developed by a 51社区 education professor has been one of the top courses on iTunesU for several months.
Eric Marvin, associate professor of education at 51社区 Germantown, originally created the 鈥淚ntegrating iPads into the Classroom鈥� course to meet the needs of Union graduate students and faculty as the School of Education launched new concentrations to its Master of Education degree.
鈥淥ur initial thought was to deliver the training once on each of Union's campuses in a traditional, face-to-face approach, but we instead opted for a just-in-time, on-demand training solution using iTunes U,鈥� Marvin said. 鈥淥ur iTunes U course has obtained an enrollment beyond expectation, from students literally around the world.鈥�
The course currently has 75,000 students, and Marvin said he hopes to reach more than 100,000 students this year.
鈥淚t is humbling and rewarding to reflect on having this many students in a single course, especially as the enrollment continues to increase,鈥� he said.
The course has been especially popular outside of the United States. Marvin has heard from teachers in Central America, Hong Kong and New Zealand, among other places, about how they benefited from the course.
The course development was an example of collaboration across many Union departments and campuses, Marvin said. Stephen Marvin, assistant professor of education and assistant dean of education at Germantown (and Eric鈥檚 brother), and Ben Phillips, associate professor of educational leadership, helped with the content of the course.
Jim Avery, associate vice president for information technology; Cam Tracy, web development agent; and Tom Rosebrough, executive dean of the College of Education and Human Studies, have also played key roles in the course鈥檚 success, Eric Marvin said.
Marvin is currently working to help move the Master of Education degree completely online. He said students in this online program would receive an iPad with enrollment and may require technological support, and that he would likely use iTunesU to provide the training for that need as well.