Added by Renee Shuey, Penn State, on Oct 23, 2007
Use Cases for Federating with iTunes U
Penn State currently offers two courses in collaboration with other universities. Geographic Information Science and Technology is a multidisciplinary field that poses a challenge for higher eduction. Few institutions offer comprehensive curricula necessary for this particular area of study. As a result, a GIS course is being offered sharing faculty, course material, and students from Leeds University, Southampton, and Penn State as part of a Worldwide University Network (WUN) effort.
Penn State and Michigan State are offering Applied Equine Behavior, an advanced course in equine science that examines the behavior of horses in free-running and domesticated situations. This course is offered to Penn State students using content developed by faculty at Michigan State University. A Penn State faculty member is teaching the course and will be accepting students from both universities.
The diversity of topics and perspectives of these courses make it nearly impossible for any one academic discipline or institution to offer truly comprehensive undergraduate, graduate, or professional curricula. One solution is to share online classes and students among several institutions presenting a real example where tightly integrating federating identity to iTunes U resources would provide an enhancement to the distance learning experience.