Following its tradition of reimagining the industries it enters, Apple on Thursday introduced its approach to education. Using iTunes U app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, students from around the world can access courses of the world's top universities as well as get additional information on topics. In addition, teachers can create and manage courses and offer them not only to their students, but to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The iTunes U app gives iOS users access to the world’s largest catalog of free educational content from top universities including Cambridge, Duke, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford, and starting today any K-12 school district can offer full courses through the iTunes U app. The all-new iTunes U app lets teachers create and manage courses including essential components such as lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and syllabuses and offer them to millions of iOS users around the world.

“The all-new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world's most prestigious universities. Never before have educators been able to offer their full courses in such an innovative way, allowing anyone who’s interested in a particular topic to learn from anywhere in the world, not just the classroom,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services.

Prior to iTunes U, only students in the classroom at that time had access to educational content from top universities. With the iTunes U app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, those barriers no longer exist. Students anywhere can take an entire course with complete access to all course materials right at their fingertips.

With the iTunes U app, students are able to access new books right from within the app, and any notes taken in iBooks are consolidated for easy reviewing. In addition to reading books, viewing presentations, lectures and assignment lists, students can receive push notifications so they always have the latest class information. The iTunes U app integrates with iBooks, iCloud, and other apps to make it easy for students to keep up with your course. The iTunes U app is available today as a free download from the App Store.

Educators can quickly and easily create, manage and share their courses, quizzes and handouts through a web-based tool and utilize content and links from the iTunes U app, the Internet, iBookstore or the App Store as part of their curriculum. They can also upload and distribute their own documents such as Keynote, Pages, Numbers or books made with iBooks Author.

Tags: Apple, iOS, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, iPod, macbook