The Free Online Education Lectures/Videos etc Thread

[LitNetIsGreat]

I like the idea of free online lectures and thought it might be a good idea to put any good sites on one thread.

I came across this site via a lecture on Youtube in preparation for a class next week.

http://oyc.yale.edu/

I'm not sure how good it is exactly, the Youtube posting I watched was OK, but nothing amazing, however it is a start. Feel free to add any other such sites featuring a collection of lectures/videos etc.

Thanks.

[SilentMute]

Well, there are many wonderful online resources--though not all are lectures.

If you are interested in learning a language:
http://www.Livemocha.com

Livemocha offers courses in many languages. There are fifty lessons that are free. They don't get into grammar, but it is a nice introduction. You can make flashcards, talk to people via livechat--and your homework is graded by people who speak the language.

This site has good tools for language learners--a dictionary, audio pronunciation of words, translator, etc. for many languages:

http://imtranslator.com/logout.asp

[L.M. The Third]

Again, these aren't (free) online courses, but I'm interested in getting some Great Courses materials from the library. Has anyone listened to, or watched, any?

The website:
http://www.shopgreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx?ai=49850

[LitNetIsGreat]

I'm not sure how good it is exactly, the Youtube posting I watched was OK, but nothing amazing, however it is a start.

I take that back. The one I watched on Thomas Hobbes was actually only the first of three x 45 minute lectures, which all consider were good. There's also three on Locke that I'm watching at the moment which are good too - am I the only madman who watches three odd hours of lectures in preparation for a lecture (seminar)? :out: Worth checking out though.


Well, there are many wonderful online resources--though not all are lectures.

If you are interested in learning a language:
http://www.Livemocha.com

Livemocha offers courses in many languages. There are fifty lessons that are free. They don't get into grammar, but it is a nice introduction. You can make flashcards, talk to people via livechat--and your homework is graded by people who speak the language.

This site has good tools for language learners--a dictionary, audio pronunciation of words, translator, etc. for many languages:

http://imtranslator.com/logout.asp

This looks great, thanks for adding it.


Again, these aren't (free) online courses, but I'm interested in getting some Great Courses materials from the library. Has anyone listened to, or watched, any?

The website:
http://www.shopgreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx?ai=49850

Again these look good, but you don't know how good the lectures are, it's a shame that there are no free sample lectures to view before you rush in. Check out the link I posted to see if there is anything there of interest there first maybe.

[kiki1982]

Yale also had, it seemed, a whole series on Milton. I may pluck up the courage to read Paradise Lost finally, with some deeper explanation... And, the advantage, you can stiop the professor in order for you to think withou getting distracted and not hearing half of what he is saying :D

[LitNetIsGreat]

Excellent, excellent, Paradise Lost is an absolute must, one of the great English works of all time and a total joy to read. When I read it, it followed me around the house for a whole year. Bravo!!

[L.M. The Third]

Yale also had, it seemed, a whole series on Milton. I may pluck up the courage to read Paradise Lost finally, with some deeper explanation... And, the advantage, you can stiop the professor in order for you to think withou getting distracted and not hearing half of what he is saying :D

Is this an online course? I'm reading PL right now.

And, Neely, I think that the Great Courses professors are quite carefully chosen. Anyways, I'll first see which materials I can get from the library, so I won't be spending money.

[kiki1982]

That was on the YouTube Yale Channel, yes. Quite elaborate too, actually, divided in sections of a few Books. The lecturer also seemed quite good. He has a whole Milton-thing going on, Paradise Regained too, and poetry in general. In the one before PL, he had been talking about Comus, apparently.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Is this an online course? I'm reading PL right now.

It's a series of lectures from the site I posted. There is one on Milton:
http://oyc.yale.edu/english

Good idea about getting stuff from the library.

[Veho]

iTunes U has free lectures. Do people know about that? I guess so.

[Paulclem]

It's a series of lectures from the site I posted. There is one on Milton:
http://oyc.yale.edu/english

Good idea about getting stuff from the library.

I got that Paradise Lost from The Works - large atlas sized hardback with drawings by Gustave Dore for £4.99. Bargain!!

Good idea for a thread.

[L.M. The Third]

It's a series of lectures from the site I posted. There is one on Milton:
http://oyc.yale.edu/english

Good idea about getting stuff from the library.

Thanks. I'll see if I can download some of it while at the library.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I got that Paradise Lost from The Works - large atlas sized hardback with drawings by Gustave Dore for £4.99. Bargain!!

Good idea for a thread.

Oh yes I have forgotten about that book from The Works - mind you, I don't have time for much reading aside from class stuff at the moment - correction - no time for reading aside from class stuff. Sounds like you have got yourself a bargain there though.


iTunes U has free lectures. Do people know about that? I guess so.

No I didn't know that. Don't you have to have an ipod for that first though, good idea for those with one though?

[Veho]

No I didn't know that. Don't you have to have an ipod for that first though, good idea for those with one though?

No, you just have to have the iTunes software (downloaded from the Apple website) on your computer. It's free for Mac and PCs. Once downloaded you go into 'iTunes Store' and along the top are different categories (Music, Films etc) and one of them should be iTunes U. Click on that and there you have it.

[TheFifthElement]

Surprised no one has mentioned the excellent Open Learn (http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/) site from the Open University. Lots of routes to explore here.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Surprised no one has mentioned the excellent Open Learn (http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/) site from the Open University. Lots of routes to explore here.

That looks excellent. I didn't know that the Open University had a free zone like that.

[LitNetIsGreat]

A post from another thread:


Here's an illuminating series of 25 lectures on human behavioral biology by Robert Sapolsky, Professor at Stanford University. I encourage you to watch them; Sapolsky is probably the best lecturer I've ever seen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIG...feature=relmfu

The first lecture is naturally a bit slower than the rest, covering the preliminaries. The rest of the lectures can be accessed via the suggestions column on youtube.

Watch. Discuss; or don't.

[Cunninglinguist]

Here is the Human Behavioral Biology Lectures thread (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60099) mentioned above. I would have simply posted the lectures here, but I'm intending to add footnotes.

[LitNetIsGreat]

http://nationalgallery.org.uk/podcasts/

Some great art podcasts from the excellent National Gallery website - got to go there this year.

[Kafka's Crow]

I finished a TTC course on 'Conflict Management' last night. It was not free but there are plenty of free humanities resources available online. iTunes U has been around for years. Some of the best teachers have their lectures available for free. A quiet revolution is taking place as far as humanities is concerned. It is an excellent development. Humanities should be out in the open, in front of all. Campus restrictions had all but killed this branch of knowledge and had endangered the whole great concept of humanism as some of the recent negative developments in world societies show. There is an interesting discussion in progress on Harvard Business Review (HBR) website about the value of humanities in business environment with special reference to management.

This should interest you:

http://oyc.yale.edu/english