'A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.'
January 29, 2008 5:00 AM Subscribe
Skip The Tuition: 100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World
I failed Quicktime and dropped out of iTunes so it looks like I ain't gonna get into any of these colleges.
posted by three blind mice at 5:14 AM on January 29, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by three blind mice at 5:14 AM on January 29, 2008 [2 favorites]
ponyfilter: is there any way to view image files of the maps that correspond with the Stanford series, "Geography of World Cultures?"
posted by farishta at 5:26 AM on January 29, 2008
posted by farishta at 5:26 AM on January 29, 2008
Links like this are periodically posted. My reaction is always to run around screaming with excitement and waving my hands in the air to indicate how much my paradigm has shifted. But then I get down to cases: This one is RealMedia. This one is a boring topic. That one is class notes only. That other one is on ITunes. This one hasn't been updated in 6 years. This one probably has about 30 good minutes of material in 8 hours of video.
What I really want...well no, I probably don't even know what I really want. What I claim to really want is a podcast (available even to Apple non-users) on a wide range of topics, both theoretical and practical, that is actually tailored to the audio format as well as being disseminated across the web. (A video podcast tailored to the video format would be good too, but it's less easy to convince people they need to do something special for that. "Just set up a video camera in the classroom and boom, done." No, not boom, done. Far from it.)
posted by DU at 5:28 AM on January 29, 2008 [3 favorites]
What I really want...well no, I probably don't even know what I really want. What I claim to really want is a podcast (available even to Apple non-users) on a wide range of topics, both theoretical and practical, that is actually tailored to the audio format as well as being disseminated across the web. (A video podcast tailored to the video format would be good too, but it's less easy to convince people they need to do something special for that. "Just set up a video camera in the classroom and boom, done." No, not boom, done. Far from it.)
posted by DU at 5:28 AM on January 29, 2008 [3 favorites]
itunes.
WHY!
iTunes is for syncing phones, not downloading lectures, dammit!
(3bm: realmedia is easily circumvented with realalternative on windows - http://www.codecguide.com/download_real.htm , apple never got an obnoxious realplayer, and those other OSes must have codecs around)
posted by davemee at 6:08 AM on January 29, 2008
WHY!
iTunes is for syncing phones, not downloading lectures, dammit!
(3bm: realmedia is easily circumvented with realalternative on windows - http://www.codecguide.com/download_real.htm , apple never got an obnoxious realplayer, and those other OSes must have codecs around)
posted by davemee at 6:08 AM on January 29, 2008
If they are free, then why don;t they just make them normal podcasts? Why force me to go through iTunes?
Genuine question. Anyone?
posted by mr. strange at 6:30 AM on January 29, 2008
Genuine question. Anyone?
posted by mr. strange at 6:30 AM on January 29, 2008
nice, thanks
posted by johnny novak at 6:35 AM on January 29, 2008
posted by johnny novak at 6:35 AM on January 29, 2008
The Teaching Company is still best in this regard. Not free as in you won't go to jail if caught, but free as in easily available and not widely prosecuted.
posted by geoff. at 7:03 AM on January 29, 2008
posted by geoff. at 7:03 AM on January 29, 2008
The Teaching Company is still best in this regard.
I give their ads a serious look every time I come across them - one time I even got a catalog in the mail and spent a good bit of time perusing the courses. Are they really that good? Some of them have really tempted me, but the price tags are a bit scary.
posted by jquinby at 7:40 AM on January 29, 2008
I give their ads a serious look every time I come across them - one time I even got a catalog in the mail and spent a good bit of time perusing the courses. Are they really that good? Some of them have really tempted me, but the price tags are a bit scary.
posted by jquinby at 7:40 AM on January 29, 2008
jquinby: I rented a few TTC courses. Some of them are phenominal, others are middling... kind of like I remember college. I suggest that you skip the $500+ price tag and just check them out of your local library.
A lot of these are available as MP3 downloads. I'm sure what all this whining about iTunes is about.
Thanks for these, they look very promising.
posted by willie11 at 8:25 AM on January 29, 2008 [1 favorite]
A lot of these are available as MP3 downloads. I'm sure what all this whining about iTunes is about.
Thanks for these, they look very promising.
posted by willie11 at 8:25 AM on January 29, 2008 [1 favorite]
God, I hate iTunes, so very much. OpenYale has direct mp3 links.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:32 AM on January 29, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:32 AM on January 29, 2008 [4 favorites]
The only courses there which are even iTunes links are the Stanford, Queens, and "Other courses."
In the case of the "other courses," each of them can be subscribed to outside of the iTunes store.
The Stanford and Queens College podcasts are actually hosted *on* Apple's servers. It was a deal set up by Apple to do a service for the colleges and "add value" to iTunes. I'm not sure how one could subscribe directly to them, but I'd be willing to bet that there's a way.
As for the vast majority of the links there, you can subscribe to them in any podcatcher.
posted by vertigo25 at 9:05 AM on January 29, 2008
In the case of the "other courses," each of them can be subscribed to outside of the iTunes store.
The Stanford and Queens College podcasts are actually hosted *on* Apple's servers. It was a deal set up by Apple to do a service for the colleges and "add value" to iTunes. I'm not sure how one could subscribe directly to them, but I'd be willing to bet that there's a way.
As for the vast majority of the links there, you can subscribe to them in any podcatcher.
posted by vertigo25 at 9:05 AM on January 29, 2008
I have a thing for Abraham Lincoln so when I heard about good reviews from The Teaching Company from friends, I finally took the plunge on a complete course on Lincoln's life.
I must agree with friends that are fans of TTC -- they pick out really great lecturers that are passionate about their topic and they're way more listenable than any college course I ever took. I really liked it, though they're expensive (see if your library has any on tape/CD)
posted by mathowie at 9:05 AM on January 29, 2008
I must agree with friends that are fans of TTC -- they pick out really great lecturers that are passionate about their topic and they're way more listenable than any college course I ever took. I really liked it, though they're expensive (see if your library has any on tape/CD)
posted by mathowie at 9:05 AM on January 29, 2008
This is great, but the college experience is about so much more than just being there to listen to lectures.
posted by Dave Faris at 10:22 AM on January 29, 2008
posted by Dave Faris at 10:22 AM on January 29, 2008
More mind stretching podcasts at the Psychedelic Salon and some brief but interesting social construction/Mcluhan-ish stuff.
posted by iamck at 3:08 PM on January 29, 2008
posted by iamck at 3:08 PM on January 29, 2008
Dave Faris: I honestly am asking this. I'm in university, and it seems that that's all there is--there are lectures, and then you go home. This may be unique in my case, of course, but is that something people just say, or is there something more I'm missing here?
posted by flibbertigibbet at 5:15 PM on January 29, 2008
posted by flibbertigibbet at 5:15 PM on January 29, 2008
OMG, they have SICP on podcast. I've been at this tech thing for eight years, ladies and gentlemen, four in university and four outside, and yes, this was the high point of my short adventure with computers and technology. I don't think I've _ever_ felt the same adrenalin rush as I have while doing the SICP course at my alma mater (not Berkeley; many schools worldwide use the same textbook/ coursework).
And they have this on podcast now. God, I feel so old; the novelty back then was that we had PPT slides / PDF handouts.
Meanwhile, this will be on my iTunes playlist for the rest of the week.
posted by the cydonian at 6:06 PM on January 29, 2008
And they have this on podcast now. God, I feel so old; the novelty back then was that we had PPT slides / PDF handouts.
Meanwhile, this will be on my iTunes playlist for the rest of the week.
posted by the cydonian at 6:06 PM on January 29, 2008
flibbertigibbet : If you're a commuter student, I think you may be missing out on college life, too. (Not a dig -- I spent the last 2 years of my college career living at home and commuting to school.) But presumably even you have an opportunity to discuss the lessons with some sort of study group, if not your professors and advisers. Just interacting with people that are interested in what you're interested in makes you better off than just listening to a podcast of the lectures. Otherwise, you'd get college credit for just curling up with a textbook in your basement. And all that doesn't even pull in the leaving home/fraternity/etc. aspects of college life for you on-campus.
posted by Dave Faris at 7:31 PM on January 29, 2008
posted by Dave Faris at 7:31 PM on January 29, 2008
Late to this, but I'll echo that the Teaching Company is that good, and well worth it (everything has a "special reduced price" several times a year, as opposed to an inflated supposedly regular price that pretty obviously exists just to make the other price look cheap.)
posted by Zed_Lopez at 2:36 PM on February 22, 2008
posted by Zed_Lopez at 2:36 PM on February 22, 2008
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posted by farishta at 5:06 AM on January 29, 2008