COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Department of Education
April 10, 2009
TO: Division Superintendents
FROM: Patricia I. Wright, Superintendent of Public Instruction
Virginia on iTunes U was launched earlier this week by Governor Timothy M. Kaine as a joint project of the Virginia Department of Education, Apple, Radford University, Blue Ridge Public Television, and Thinkfinity. iTunes U for K-12 education is a dedicated area within Apple’s iTunes Store featuring free access to educational content. Students, teachers, and other interested users can easily search, download, and play audio and video content from any computer with Internet access, and learn on the go with iPod or iPhone. Virginia on iTunes U may be accessed at http://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browsev2/vdoe.brpbs.org.
Educators are encouraged to become content providers by making audio and video podcasts available on the Virginia portal. Content should be based on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) or the national curriculum standards if not covered by the SOL. Posted resources must meet quality requirements as outlined in the guidelines for creation and submission. These guidelines are available at https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/BrowsePrivately/vdoe.brpbs.org.1899181821.01899181823.
Questions may be directed to Sara Marchio, special projects coordinator, at (804) 786-0877 or by e-mail at sara.marchio@doe.virginia.gov.
PIW / TM / sm