Less bookish
Within just three years of launch, iTunes U downloads have topped 300m to become one of the world's most popular educational catalogues.
Over 800 universities across the globe have active iTunes U sites, with half of them posting content for public consumption via the store. A clutch of universities from China, Hong Kong, Mexico and Singapore have recently joined the site to boost its collective offering to some 350,000 audio and visual files from educational institutions.
The site was created in collaboration with universities and gives users access to course material, lab demos, lectures, sports highlights and campus tours from some of the world's most prestigious institutions such as MIT, Harvard and Oxford, listed in a dedicated part of the iTunes store.
Commentators have also noted the store gives students easy access to course material, including lecture podcasts and presentations without the need for hefty internal content management systems, which can prove tricky to use.
The Open University became the first of its peers to achieve 20m downloads on the store in June and found a soaring interest from people wanting to access educational material on a portable device.
Experts predict an increasing amount of universities will jump on the iTunes U band wagon to try and engage students and the wider public.
Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of internet services, said: "iTunes U makes it easy for people to discover and learn with content from many of the world's top institutions. With such a wide selection of educational material, we're providing iTunes users with an incredible way to learn on their computer, iPhone, iPod or iPad."
