There were a few Australian Universities or TAFE colleges listed on iTunes-u, so finding five (5) was relatively easy. However some institutions had lots on offer but I could not open them. I chose the following because they had items which I could access fairly easily:
La Trobe University
Australian National University
Deakin University
Queensland University of Technology
University of Melbourne
La Trobe University
A link to “Australian History” at La Trobe was listed on the iTunes-u home page, so that was an obvious choice. On offer were 31 podcasts on various aspects of Australian history and I chose a 19 minute talk about “Melbourne Archaeology”.
The talk was focused on well-known areas of archaeological interest in the CBD and touching on the availability of sites as well as the cost in both time and money, and was both interesting and enjoyable.
Australian National University
From this University I listened to the first 10 minutes of an hour long podcast entitled “Open Access & the Future of Scholarly Communication: Dissemination, Prestige & Impact”, which is one of three lectures available under the “Education” banner.
I chose this lecture because open access is a hot topic at the moment and was surprised to see that the lecture was recorded in 2009. So obviously the topic has been around in universities for a while but only recently being discussed in public (radio, blogs, etc.).
Deakin University
I wandered around Deakin’s offerings before choosing a recording of a radio interview called “Facebook and the use of Social Media in classrooms”. The topic was well covered in the eight (8) minutes and the lecturer was articulate and emphasised the collaborative nature of social media.
Short, sweet and useful as an argument for using Facebook and other Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
Queensland University of Technology
This university has the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies which has both podcasts and transcripts of its podcasts on iTunes-u. I listened to the first part of “ACPNS56 Givers and Regulators: Two sides of the fundraising coin”.
The two parts of the topic were slightly disconnected because we looked at Australian giving and Irish regulations. In total there were 61 podcasts which usually have two speakers, two parts to them and are definitely for the more serious student of philanthropy.
University of Melbourne
As a HSC student I used to attend Saturday morning public lectures at University of Melbourne, so this was an obvious choice. I had trouble accessing some lectures but eventually found one called “Integrated Design – a Holistic Approach and a Business Model” under the Dean’s Lectures banner.
This lecture looked at engineering advances which have made it possible for architects to design building structures not previously thought possible. Quite interesting lecture on how architects work with various stakeholders.
Ratings
Institution
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Overall Rating
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Comments
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La Trobe University
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4.5 / 5
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The link made it quick and easy to find a subject of interest on offer. There are many courses on offer including a lot about literature.
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Australian National University
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4 / 5
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I found the topic fairly quickly and other disciplines offer more podcasts.
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Deakin University
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4 / 5
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I had to do a bit of searching to find a topic of interest, but that says more about me! Lots on offer.
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Queensland University of Technology
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4.5 / 5
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I particularly liked the transcripts on offer for all of the ACPNS podcasts. Only two faculties but a large amount of material on offer.
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University of Melbourne
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3.5 / 5
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I was unable to open some of the lecture under other tabs when I first tried. Items in offer are mainly public lectures 3 – 5 years old.
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