Sunny Man’s Blog

July 23rd 2007

(0) iTunes U: Fun Learning

Educational, Film/TV, Life

I was perousing around the iTunes store the other day looking for some science and IT based podcasts when I decided to click on a small link that said ‘iTunes U’. It was a spontaneous decision - one of very few I make - and has probably been one of the most fulfilling clicks I have ever made on my computer.

It makes a welcome surprise that, for me, overshadows the absence of TV content on the British and European iTunes stores - but that makes for another rant post. iTunes U is a way for university students - or anyone for that matter - to watch lectures on a number of subjects whenever they want. I’ve been watching a lecture every night for four days now.

Long Distance Learning

The service allows you to download video podcasts of your subjects from a number of American educational institutes and watch them on your computer and/or video iPod. Over the past few days I’ve been watching lectures on ‘Introductory Astronomy’ from Michigan Tech University with Prof. Robert Nemiroff. The lectures that I’ve watched have been quite interesting and, although recorded from September last year, up to date. The lecturer, Prof. Robert Nemiroff, is one of the people responsible for writing the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) descriptions as well.

I have found that in the first five lectures to be extremely interesting and it was funny to see the class slowly decrease in size as more and more people found out they didn’t have to attend the lectures. Some of the content was pretty basic while some went into more depth such as the lectures on black holes - this was very interesting and I learnt a lot more that I would have at my current A-Level course. I must warn you that Prof. Nemiroff attempts to inject some humour into the lectures and if I’m honest, fails the majority of the time but you may appreciate it more than me.

Are U Ready?

I don’t know the figures of the uptake on this service but as a British A-Level student it’s been interesting to learn things on the side while I have some spare time. There are other more hardcore Physics courses on there and a host of other subjects that you can subscribe to. The list of institutions that provide these courses seems to have increased since I first laid eyes on the service a few days ago and I only hope that more continue the trend.

Personally, I don’t agree with courses that don’t require attendance at lectures as I think that’s half the reason you go to University but I love the fact that these places are recording lectures and allowing people from around the world to learn more about their interests.

I know it may be a stretch to ask Windows users to download iTunes but do it anyway, for me. Check out the library of lecture-casts under iTunes U in the iTunes store and give it a go. Download 7 video podcasts and watch one every day for a week. Give us a comment.

Oh, and thanks to Derby University for supplying the iPod.