The glossary defines terms you’ll encounter as you read this guide.
Values of No Access, Download, Drop Box, Shared, and Edit that define the level of permissions assigned to a user credential for a specific group, page, or hierarchy of pages within iTunes U. See also credential; permission.
A unique user name that allows you to log in with administrative access to your site. All administrative access is integrated with an Apple ID.
Atom Syndication Format feed. An XML language used for web feeds. Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a website. Atom feeds allow each feed to contain multiple versions or formatting of course content for different devices. iTunes U allows up to 300 enclosures in a feed. However, for performance and usability, Apple recommends an upper limit of 50 enclosures in a feed. If a feed has a large number of enclosures, your content is less likely to be featured in iTunes U and can be more difficult for users to search and browse, thus making your content less discoverable. Compare RSS feed.
A fundamental aspect of an institution’s system security. Authentication manages the identity and admission of any user trying to log in and access network resources. By default, iTunes U supports Shibboleth (the standards-based, open source authentication system). You can also create customized transfer scripts to integrate with popular authentication systems, including Kerberos, LDAP, Active Directory, and others.
A string containing a user’s credentials and, optionally, user identity information, as well as a time stamp and a digital signature, packaged together and formatted for transfer to iTunes U. When using advanced access controls and transfer scripts, this token is required to securely communicate with iTunes U. See also transfer script.
A page in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store containing content organized by subject. If your site is included in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store, you can assign your site’s content to predefined iTunes U categories, allowing your content to be displayed within category pages and therefore providing users a subject-based navigation method for discovering your content.
A software tool that allows institutions to develop and support online education programs. Examples of course management systems include Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, and Angel.
A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access items (for example, audio tracks and video tracks). You can divide a Course page into groups, displayed as tabs, to organize different types of information together or to divide the Course page into areas of differing access permissions. Compare Welcome page, Public Feature page.
A shared group, displayed as a tab in a Course page, with permissions that allow users to browse, but not upload or download content from the group. Only the owner (for example, instructors and staff) has full access. See also Drop Box group; Shared group.
A text string containing a user’s attributes and a unique identifier with the user’s specific access permissions to iTunes U pages, groups, and resources. For example: Student@urn:mace:example.edu:psych101.3.200609. User’s can have up to 100 credentials, separated by semicolons (;).
A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access Course pages, used for both public and non-public content. In Web Services, a division page. A descendant Welcome page is a child page of a Welcome page or Public Feature page used to organize your content into sections or divisions. See also division page. Compare Welcome page, Course page, Public Feature page.
A group of one or more handles, separated by periods, that points to a specific iTunes U page, group, or track.
A digital signal or pattern that identifies a user or the user’s habits. When using advanced access controls and transfer scripts, you create the digital signature by using the HMAC-SHA256 algorithm to cryptographically sign the token data you generated with the shared secret displayed in the Transfer Script Information in the Edit Site Settings page for primary administrators. See also authorization token; shared secret; transfer script.
A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access Course pages, used for both public and non-public content. In the user interface, a descendant Welcome page. A division page is a child page of a Welcome page or Public Feature page used to organize your content into sections or divisions. See also descendant Welcome page. Compare Welcome page, Course page, Public Feature page.
A shared group with permissions that allow users to upload to, but not download from, the group. For example, a student can upload a file to a Drop Box group and ask the instructor to review the file and provide feedback, but other students cannot see the file’s content. Only the group owner has full access permissions to the group items. The ownership of an item written to the group is automatically transferred to the owner of the group, thus giving the owner of a Drop Box group full access permissions to and control over the items. See also Course page group; Shared group.
An internal set of numbers that uniquely identifies an iTunes U page, group, or track.
A separate box in an iTunes U page containing hypertext links to additional content, supporting documents, and content considered external to the primary content in the iTunes U page or group. You can link to content both internal and external to your iTunes U site. To link to internal content, use an “itmss://” URL in the Links box.
Supplemental information about a media file type. For example, an audio file contains audio information. The name of the person that created the file, the length of the file, the title of the file, description, and so on, are all examples of metadata a file might contain.
For iTunes 8 or earlier, a user interface tool within the iTunes application that allows the user to see where the current page or group is in relation to the site’s hierarchy. The bar controls the navigation between pages. You can configure page and group names and affect what appears in the iTunes navigation bar. For iTunes 9 or later, a user interface tool within the iTunes application that allows the user to see the current iTunes Store category and, for a logged in iTunes U user, the site name and user display name.
A unique string you specify in the Identifier field to identify a specific page within iTunes U. If you create a permission for the page with a credential that includes the ${IDENTIFIER} variable, this page substitutes the provided page identifier for the ${IDENTIFIER} variable when performing authentication. iTunes U uses the page identifier to automatically derive identifier-based credentials based upon substitution rules. See also credential.
A user interface tool within an iTunes U page that allows the user to see where the current page or group is in relation to the site’s hierarchy. The path controls the navigation between pages. You can configure page and group names and affect what appears in the iTunes U page path.
A term used to describe the actions a user is permitted to perform within a specific group, page, or hierarchy of pages within iTunes U, based on the access levels assigned to the user. Access values are: No Access, Download, Drop Box, Shared, and Edit. See also access.
A downloadable audio or video file meant for download by subscribers or by those viewing a specific page. Podcast files contain content that typically occurs on a periodic basis. Podcasts with a Display icon next to them also show video. If you have the correct access permissions, you can download individual podcasts or subscribe to podcasts so they are automatically downloaded as they become available from your iTunes U site. Podcast episodes are downloaded to your computer and you can copy them to an iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV.
A person who has administrative authority for networks, servers, databases, or other information technology assets. For iTunes U, a person who has the most access to your iTunes U site, allowing the administrator to create new pages, assign ownership of pages to specific instructors, and manage the iTunes U site. The primary administrator is the person capable of doing everything that other administrators can do, and is the only person responsible for adding and removing additional Apple ID based administrators as well as viewing and editing specific site settings.
A password-protected site that allows an institution to control access to its content. Use a private sites to distribute content to internal audiences only (for example, students, faculty and staff). You can apply for both a private and public site during the application process, or reapply for a second site at a later date. Compare public site.
A page in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store containing content organized by education providers. If your site is included in iTunes U in the iTunes Store, iTunes U uses your “Site display name” when adding your site to the alphabetical list of providers in the iTunes U provider pages.
A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, students, and the public use to access descendant Welcome pages, Course pages, courses, and tracks, used exclusively for public content. The Public Feature page is the first page iTunes U displays when you access your public iTunes U site. Apple provides you with this predefined root page during site creation, you cannot create a Public Feature page within iTunes U. Compare Course page, Welcome page, descendant Welcome page.
A site that allows an institution to distribute its content worldwide through iTunes U in the iTunes Store. You can apply for both a private and public site during the application process, or reapply for a second site at a later date. Compare private site.
A standardized web feed format used to publish frequently updated content, such as podcasts. iTunes U allows up to 300 enclosures in a feed. However, for performance and usability, Apple recommends an upper limit of 50 enclosures in a feed. If a feed has a large number of enclosures, your content is less likely to be featured in iTunes U and can be more difficult for users to search and browse, thus making your content less discoverable. If your iTunes U site is public, iTunes U displays an RSS feed link in your Links box title bar to an RSS feed view of the contents of the Links box. iTunes U Links box RSS feeds are on a delay. For example, you may add a new link to your Links box and not notice it in the RSS feed view of the contents for a few minutes. Compare Atom feed.
A group with permissions that allow users to upload content to and download content from the group. See also Course page group; Drop Box group.
A value used to sign the token data you created and transform the data into an encrypted format, creating an authorization token. Only you and Apple should have access to the shared secret; be sure to store the shared secret in a secure location. See also authorization token; digital signature.
A set of interconnected pages, including a root page, prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization. For iTunes U, a set of pages associated with an institution or other educational organization, where users can easily search, download, and preview content.
The URL, defined in the iTunes U Edit Site Settings page, iTunes U redirects you to if your integration is not working properly, or you do not have access to the iTunes U site you are trying to log in to.
An area within an iTunes U page containing options for editing pages, uploading files, defining access levels, and updating your site preferences, appearance, and settings, provided a user has the appropriate permissions to perform these actions.
A separate box in the iTunes U root Welcome or Public Feature page containing links to the top downloads for your site. For root Welcome pages, by default, iTunes U hides the Top Downloads box. For Public Feature pages, by default, iTunes U shows the top five downloads for your site. iTunes U begins collecting download data as soon as your site is active. About a half a day after the first track is download from your site, iTunes U has enough data to determine the most downloaded tracks and display the top tracks in the Top Downloads box.
A downloadable piece of content (for example, a lecture). iTunes U displays a track as an item in a track list within a Course page, as a link in top downloads, and so on.
The script you create to transfer authentication and authorization information to iTunes U so users can securely access your iTunes U site. The script can contain information such as your site URL, Debug Suffix, Shared Secret, authorization token, and credentials. See also authorization token; credential; shared secret.
A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.
A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access descendant Welcome pages and Course pages, used for both public and non-public content. The root Welcome page is the first page iTunes U displays when you access your iTunes U site. Compare descendant Welcome page, Course page, Public Feature page.
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