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Glossary

The glossary defines terms you’ll encounter as you read this guide.

• access  

  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.



• authorization token  

  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.



• Course page  

  A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access objects (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.



• Course page group  

  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.



• credential  

  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 (;).



• destination  

  A group of one or more handles, separated by periods, that points to a specific iTunes U page, group, or track.



• digital signature  

  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.



• Drop Box group  

  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 objects. 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.



• handle  

  An internal set of numbers that uniquely identifies an iTunes U page, group, or track.



• Links box  

  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.



• metadata  

  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.



• navigation bar  

  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.



• page identifier  

  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.



• permission  

  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.



• podcast  

  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.



• primary administrator  

  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.



• Public Feature page  

  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.



• RSS feed  

  Really Simple Syndication feed. A standardized web feed format used to publish frequently updated content, such as podcasts. 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.



• Shared group  

  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.



• shared secret  

  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.



• site  

  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.



• Site login URL  

  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.



• Tools area  

  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.



• Top Downloads box  

  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.



• track  

  A downloadable piece of content (for example, a lecture) displayed as an item in a tracklist within a Course page.



• transfer script  

  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.



• web service  

  A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.



• Welcome page  

  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 Course page, Public Feature page.

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