[optix212]

iTunes U, standing for iTunes University, is pretty much video's of actual college level classes on pretty much any field of education. They are pretty much like video podcasts, and can be downloaded directly to your ipod (depending on which Ipod model/generation you have). The course that i am stressing here is Programming Methodology, or CS106A, taught by Mehran Sahami at Stanford University!

Why is this so great? Well, to really get the big picture, you will have to see for yourself, but as just an overview there are 28 videos in all, times ranging from 41:30 to 52:25. Mehran uses Java for his discussions, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take a look at these videos if you are not a Java programmer, as the course is named Programming Methodology, not Java 101. Anyways, these videos go over the whole course (i think, but i haven't gotten to the last of the videos). So if you have an ipod, or iphone, which i presume a lot of people here do, then it is something definitely worth checking out!!

Also, you dont NEED an ipod to take a look, all you need is iTunes, then you can download them and watch them directly using Quicktime, which comes with iTunes when you download it.

Happy Programming!!

This post has been edited by optix212: 11 January 2010 - 04:21 PM

[cmh0114]

iTunes U is pretty sweet. I've probably downloaded $10,000 worth of college courses from there. Because of real-life school, I've only looked at about $10 worth of it, but what I've seen looks really good, and I plan on getting really into it once school lets out and I have some spare time.

[Astraeus]

Sounds nice o.o. I'll have to look into that.

[SpeedisaVirus]

Yeah, I'm a fan. Currently doing the MIT Intro to Algorithms topic since I'm taking an algo course next semester

[Nykc]

OCW offers a broader range of podcasts but there are some pretty cool classes and lectures available on iTunes U

[NeoTifa]

Do you have to pay for them? I see it advertised all around campus, but have never really looked into it.

[SpeedisaVirus]

All of the ones I have played with are free. Some of the OCW is popping up on iTunes but it doesn't seem like its all there and some of the lectures are different than the ones from the OCW site, different semesters etc.

[codeNerd]

iTunes U courses are free, but you won't be able to get credit, and of course, you have to have iTunes installed. As far as handouts and other information used in those classes, you can sometimes get that information from the university's website. For instance the Programming Methodologies mentioned above is a Stanford course CS106A. They also have Programming Abstractions (CS106B, I think) and Programming Paradigms. Their website at http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs106a/ gives handouts and assignments, so it is a little easier following along. In the link above, substitute the last "a" of the link with "b", "x", and "l" <== that's an L, to get the other courses.

I happen to be doing a computer science iTunes U course out of New South Wales in Australia, and there are no materials available to work along with the class. In most cases, that's not a problem. In the case of this course, they were working on a program where you type in a number and it would print out a somewhat fictitious Viking number equivalent in words. I went to their website, but found no materials. I DID find the web page of the student reps, and emailed them. They were awesome, and sent me a file of the vocabulary so I could work on that program along with the class.

So if you decide to take advantage of one of the courses on iTunes U, hunt around and you can find all sorts of helps, tuts, videos, assignments, and other gems at university websites. MIT offers quite a bit too, both on iTunesU and on their site.

Enjoy

[optix212]

Well, taking this course along with Stanford, I am on the verge of switching my major, idk yet because when i started programming, i wanted to do it just for fun, but now it seems that i want to pursue a career in it. I haven't checked out the requirements for a Computer Science course, but I'm sure that they can't be to different than Electrical Engineering.

This post has been edited by optix212: 13 January 2010 - 06:29 PM

[FrozenSnake]

Is it fixed to USA or can anyone in the world download? Sometimes stuff is limited to a location or country. Would be great if I could download even if I live in Sweden.

[optix212]

yes, im pretty sure you can download out of the states.

If you can download iTunes, you can download from iTunes U.

[Nykc]

OCW is worldwide. Far more comprehensive than iTunes U and less restrictive in regards to hardware etc.,

MIT, UC Berkeley, Stanford, tons of schools are on there - even European and Asian schools participate.

Here is the OCW main link.

I use this along with iTunes U. I am & have been working on some MIT classes for a while now.

[Mused]

I love iTunes U! I also find that is really fun to take a look at other fields of study that I would not normally even consider looking at. ie: art.

[Fungle]

I had no idea about iTunes U Thank you for pointing it out I will definately take a look at it, So far on this topic the feedback looks brilliant.

[NeoTifa]

If anybody wants to link me to a good beginning Mandarin Chinese course on there, that'd be great. All the ones I found were just demos on writing the characters.