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SENR

School of Environment and Natural Resources

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iTunes U course offered by SENR Faculty Member is Bestseller

June 10, 2013
Introduction to Environmental Science, an iTunes U course offered by Dr. Brian Lower, assistant professor in the School of Environmental and Natural Resources is currently ranked by Apple as the 33rd bestseller for ALL courses and the 3rd bestseller for science courses. Dr. Lower started offering the course in March 2013  and the course has about 14,500 students.  Recently, Dr. Lower shared a few of the driving forces behind the creation of the course, including wanting to be able to teach and reach a world-wide audience and believes that iTunes U offers a great way to provide free world-class educational content to anyone, anywhere, anytime.  Dr. Lower notes, “it gives me a platform to reach younger students or those that don’t have the opportunity to attend a university, but with an interest in the environment and science.  The course allows me the opportunity to reach these students, get them excited about science and encourage them to pursue degrees in science, mathematics and engineering.”  He also says the course enhances the classroom experience for his Ohio State students.  “With iTunes U I can provide my students with audio, video, books, assignments, podcasts, documentaries, presentations, apps and documents all in one place.  When you blend iTunes U with live classroom sessions, it helps the students to be more engaged and successful.”