iTunes U Surpasses 100 Million Downloads

CNET briefly noted late last week that Apple's iTunes U channel [iTunes Store] offering education content through the iTunes Store has surpassed 100 million downloads.

According to Apple, one of the most popular areas of iTunes U has been that of the United Kingdom-based Open University (iTunes link), whose learning categories include Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, Childhood and Youth, Health and Social Care, Law, Psychology, and Science. The academic institution says it caters to at least 150,000 undergraduate and 30,000 postgraduate students, more than 25,000 of whom live outside the U.K.

iTunes U offers over 200,000 downloadable audio and video files from several hundred sources, including many top universities. While iTunes U was officially launched in mid-2007, its roots date back significantly further to an initial debut as a partnership with Stanford University in October 2005.