Learn.gold: UCL on iTunes. Take our latest poll.

UCL is the first mainstream UK university to make lectures available on iTunes - read about it in the Guardian.

UCL isn't recording all its lectures but, since more and more institutions are offering recordings online, have a think and take our latest (anonymised) poll: if recordings of your lectures were available, would you turn up?

LSE media downloads

by Deleted user - Wednesday, 4 June 2008, 4:49 PM

The LSE makes available audio, video and slides of many of the lectures in the Public Events programme.

The iTunes listing demonstrates a major influence in this particular example of "technology enhanced learning." Is this mainly about selling more iPods and iBooks? or am I just being cynical...

Let's drop the buzzwords and the brand-names for a minute. Recorded audio and video from lectures available online via learn.gold would be one way of enabling students to benefit from sessions that they have missed. In place of borrowing notes, students could make their own.

Re: LSE media downloads

by Deleted user - Thursday, 5 June 2008, 3:53 PM

The fact that it's on iTunes U does make it uncomfortable to recommend them, though if you have no "ideological" problems with it, then search for iTunes U now and get free movies on educatinonal "stuff"!!! Indeed, there is no need for an iPod per se, you can watch lectures on an iTunes player on a computer (though you will have to download the software) and many movies are also available via

.

For me, the real joy lies in having access to lectures and content that is usually not within my reach: events happening overseas, unique lectures (or lecture series), keynotes at conferences I missed or didn't have the time for - or simply lectures on something not immediately within my academic subject.

On that note, I would recommend this year's Reith lectures, freely available from the BBC via internet (listen again), downloadable as a podcast, and of course synchronously via good old fashioned radio (even analog!). This year's very topical subject is "Chinese Vistas", and are given "by the eminent historian Professor Jonathan Spence".

Re: UCL on iTunes. Take our latest poll.

by Deleted user - Thursday, 5 June 2008, 2:43 PM

This isn't an option on the poll but I would still turn up to lectures because it would take less self-discipline than listening to them at home!

Also all my seminars followed the lectures so if I still had to come in for seminars I would have no time to listen to the lectures at home or on my mp3 player before my seminar and would have to attend the lecture.

However, it would have been useful to be able to easily catch up after being ill.

Re: UCL on iTunes. Take our latest poll.

by Deleted user - Thursday, 5 June 2008, 6:23 PM

Interesting, Leanne - timetables helping to add structure...

Re: UCL on iTunes. Take our latest poll.

by Deleted user - Sunday, 8 June 2008, 11:53 AM

I think having lectures available on itunes or any MP3 file is extremely helpful. It would be a definite advantage for people who are hard of hearing and find it difficult to both note take and listen to the lecture. Often this means those people resort to dictaphones but in a large lecture theatre the sound quality can be poor (unless you buy a very expensive model).
Most committed students would still turn up as obviously the lecture theatre is a chance to ask questions and also see the visual presentations often provided along side a lecture, also you get to see the nuances in the lecturer's face and body which can provide a subtext to what a person is saying.