This list has been updated for 2006. Here is the new list of academic podcasts you can listen to for free.
I discovered early on that an iPod or MP3 player full of good spoken audio content went a long way toward keeping me productive when traveling, doing yard work, exercising, etc, but the charges from audible.com and buying CDs adds up quickly. Podcasts can automate the process of getting content and lower the cost, but much of the content available has more in common with radio entertainment than a well written book.
Several universities are making lectures available as Podcasts. Not every class is work well on an iPod, but the content is much more directed toward people who want to learn and not just be entertained. Of course the flip side of this is that some professors are boring in person, to say nothing of listening to their recordings on an iPod. You may need to look around to find someone who is interesting to listen to, but once you find the right feed, you have a tremendous amount of content regularly published for entire semester.
You can subscribe to a class and set iTunes to download new lectures, sync them with your iPod, automatically delete them once you’ve listened to them (configured under iPod properties in iTunes). This is a great way to expand your education without spending the time required in a traditional class. One of the problems with playing mp3s on an iPod is the fact that it doesn’t keep track of where you are in the file. So if you shut off your iPod and come back to it later, you may have to scan through the content to find your place. This isn’t much of a problem on an iPod like the Nano where you have a wheel to navigate, but it can be a little difficult on the iPod Shuffle or other mp3 players that don’t have a way to visually see where you are in the recording.
Many of the classes don’t show up in the iTunes Podcast directory.
Below is a list of classes with links to the feed for the podcast. This
is in no way a comprehensive list, but it is the items that I thought
were interesting.
Purdue University:
- AGEC100 – Introductory Agricultural Business and Economics
- AGR101 – Introduction to the School of Agriculture and Purdue University
- AGR290 – Special Topics in Agriculture
- ANTH379 – Indians of North America
- BCHM307 – Biochemistry
- BIOL110 – Fundamentals of Biology
- BMS511 – Systemic Mammalian Physiology
- BTNY210 – Introduction to Plant Science
- CE350 – Environmental Engineering
- CHM111 – General Chemistry
- CSR342 – Personal Finance
- COMM435 – Communication and Emerging Technologies
- ECON210 – Principles of Economics
- HIST105 – Survey of Global History
- OLS274 – Applied Leadership
- POL130 – Introduction to International Relations
- PSY225 – Stereotyping and Prejudice
University of Washington:
- OCEAN 102 – The Changing Oceans
- POL S 202 – Infro to American Politics
- CHID 110 A – The Question of Human Nature
Washington College of Law:
- Various Topics – Mainly relating to legal issues. Description of recordings here.
University of Hawaii:
- ICS101 – Tools for the Information Age.
Harvard University:
- CSIE-1 – Understanding Computers and the Internet.
University of San Francisco:
- N340 – Principles and Methods of Nursing
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MIT also allow access to lectures online, although not podcasted. Plain ol’ stream I’m afraid.
http://mitworld.mit.edu/
I’m a Purdue student and delighted to see the university so well represented. = ) Thanks for compiling this list by the way.
Absolutely great, thank you for this!
how do you add these rss feeds to itunes?
bryce: drag n drop the link into the itunes window.
Awsome! ill be checking this site frequently. Will the list stay up to date?
Links to the videos of MIT lectures can also be found here (along with other free speeches, audiobooks, etc.)
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio
Allegheny College is podcasting events and lectures as well a weekly campus podcast. Check it out: http://webtools.allegheny.edu/podcast.
The University of Mary Washington has just begun a series of “profcasts,” beginning with poet Claudia Emerson reading from her new, Pulitzer-prize-nominated collection, “Late Wife.” http://www.profcast.org.
I can’t get the streams from Washington University to work. I add the files to my iTunes window, and try to play them, but I get nothing. any help?
UC Berkeley has a ton of courses and events as streaming media. At least one course is podcasted, and most events are as well.
http://webcast.berkeley.edu
Stanford also has a good deal of content available through the iTMS. Not podcasts (individual downloads), but free. Don’t go searching for it in Itunes, though. You have to use the link found here:
http://itunes.stanford.edu/
Be sure to check University Channel, it has a lot of interesting lectures, all podcast. Here’s the link:http://uc.princeton.edu/main/
could someone please get me the info about david robinson, jackie robinson son who is growing coffee in tanzania. i would like someway to get in touch with him to find out more.
French academic podcast:
http://www.canal-u.education.fr
Thanks for this info. Now I can more easily keep my brain from atrophying into a puddle of football-worshiping, Simpsons-quoting mush! (Seriously, after college learning became less about growing and more about doing just enough to not go broke and die.)
heres is a ucla course Polical Science 141B – Electoral Politics: Public Opinion and Voting Behavior
at http://www.oid.ucla.edu/webcasts/courses/2005-2006/2005fall/polisci141b/index.html
Thank you for the excellent information of your blog.
I invite you to discover what is happening with podcast in this part of the world. Greetng from Chile.
Carlos Toledo verdugo
First Educational Podcast from Chile is in San Fernando – Sexta Región
Dear friends, I invite you to listen chilepodcast…..
As and old time dxer or short wave listener, that I have changed the SWL hobby Of International Radios on Short wave, (Dxing) by the Internet, I have the pleasure to let you know that as May 17, 2005, International Day of Communication, you can download and listen the First Podcasting produced and poscasted from San Fernando Chile, to all Internet surfers of the world.
If you have time and are interested in listening these programs from San Fernando, you can visit my website, where you can download the MP3 file for a later listening on your PC or MP3 player.
This is my site: http://www.chilepodcast.cl
This is my blog: http://chilepodcast.blogspot.com
I remain for your questions, comments and suggestions about these programs.
At the same time, I’ll be very thankful if you could send this mail to your Contacts, and distribute this news on your web site, in order to promote this new technology of communication.
If you want to know more about me, search on http://www.google.com for:
Carlos Toledo Verdugo or chilepodcast
Program contents:
Both my wife and I are Christian Teachers and we would like to podcast poetry, Chilean music, the history of Dxing in Chile, Bible reading and greetings from listener.
My podcast are in Special Spanish (sometime in English) because I want reach all the people on the internet that are interested in learning my mother tongue Spanish.
Also we would like to be in touch through this technology with fellow Spanish Teachers as a Second Language and their students of Spanish language.
Sincerely, and God Bless you all.
chilepodcast@gmail.com
Carlos Toledo Verdugo
Primary School Teacher
Profesor de Educación General Básica
San Fernando – Sexta Región Chile
HELP! Has anyone downloaded the Purdue Applied Leadership lectures? I was not able to download them all before they were disabled. I would pay for your help.
Please write me here: RyanArm@aol.com
PLEASE HELP! :)
University of Bath in England:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/podcast/
The City University of New York has a wide range of podcasts from lectures to one on one talk shows with experts in immigration, home land security and more.
http://www.cuny.edu/podcasts or
http://www1.cuny.edu/forums/podcasts/
They’re no MIT, but my previous schools also offer podcasts:
Indiana University: http://podcast.iu.edu/Portal/
and
Washington State University: http://wiki.wsu.edu/wsuwiki/Podcasts_at_WSU
Can any one direct me to where I can listen or view podcasts on topics related to agricultural engineer classes? thank you