Get Ready for Alumni of YouTube U

Imagine attending a college course in your PJs with a bowl of Lucky Charms in one hand and a pen in another, and actually getting credit for it.

That is exactly what one university professor in Australia is doing with his UNSW eLearning channel, filming lectures, posting them on YouTube, giving credit to viewers and not charging a cent for any of it, well at least for select local high school students.



Finally, someone has found a legitimate use for the biggest time waster on the internet.

Although the concept of posting university material online is nothing new, nor is "taking a class online" (boy, I hated those) but the concept of teachers simply posting that day's lecture online and giving credit for watching really opens doors to virtual learning.

Now, I'm not saying it can replace the learning that comes from attending some classes, particularly upper division ones. But these YouTube courses would be great for those introductory 1010 lecturer hall classes with 100 indistinguishable faces mindlessly listening to the teacher drone. I would have given my right foot to have the choice to watch my Geology 1010 class senior year instead of actually attending.

I see big things for virtual learning, now it's just time for the Colleges and Universities to figure out the best way to use it without getting greedy.

Read more tech news blogs. You might not get course credit for it, but they sure are interesting.

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