I think I’d seen this before, but the interface shown below has a very interesting feature to it for an iTMS entry. Notice the little “folder tabs” that allow you to move from “playlist to playlist” all under the same “album” heading? This is interesting to me because if we do get this iTMS customization thing going that I have been speculating about since the podcasting in iTunes announcement a few weeks ago, we’re in for a very interesting set of opportunities. Looks to me like this could be a powerful way to structure your podcasts on a lesson-by-lesson or week-by-week basis for your courses. I am just wondering if we’ll have these capabilities when the next version of iTunes rolls out. Take a look at the screen capture here:

If we can use tabs to build custom “pages” in the store, imagine how this could essentially become a syllabus for you and your students. The overall page is the course page and each tab is a lesson, week, or whatever organizational method you use. With the iTMS’s ability to handle PDF, video, and audio we can distribute some serious stuff from in here! Mix it up with audio books via audible.com (say goodbye to textbooks!), your own reflections, lectures, and feedback as podcasts, uploaded cases and assignments as PDFs, and video files of Keynote slides and lectures and you have one hell of an interesting LMS alternative!

With the access to the pre-built stuff in iTMS and your own creations the doors are opening to a rich class experience. I am very anxious to see how the iTMS really works … here’s to hoping this isn’t just wishful thinking!