Free iTunes U courses created by Stanford University and Open University have been downloaded 50 million times through Apple.
Apple unveiled the iTunes U app, bringing a new wave of readers to the content. Below, we’ve linked to the ten most popular free courses on Open University. You can also see our list of 10 iTunes U courses for writers and readers.
Check it out: “The Open University’s 52 courses on the app add to the University’s extensive material on iTunes U which in another European first, has now seen more than 50 million international downloads, with over 40,000 new downloads each day. Our most popular course on the iTunes U iPad app, The New Entrepreneurs, has over 100,000 active subscribers, with another six of our courses having over 50,000 subscribers each.” (Via Jose Afonso Furtado)
1. Shakespeare: A critical analysis Is Shakespeare still relevant today? How does his work influence pop culture today?
2. Bon départ: beginners’ FrenchWant to learn the basics in French? The 18 audios in the album are devised for beginner learners of French
3. Addiction and neural ageing This unit looks at two topics that are of immense worldwide social, economic, ethical, and political importance – ‘addiction’ and ‘neural ageing’. You will develop a Master’s level approach to the study of specific issues within these two important subject areas.
4. Fossil Detectives Hermione Cockburn, presenter of the brand-new OU/BBC series Fossil Detectives. Hermione, who has also presented Coast and Rough Science, talks about the making of Fossil Detectives and other OU/BBC series, the extraordinary fossils found in Britain, and some of our most surprising fossil-hunters.
5. Changing approaches to heritage If you could save one thing for posterity, what would it be? Your answer is likely to depend on the things you value. But the things that society values are changing all the time.
6. The medicalised context of bereavement (eBook) This unit helps you to explore the extent to which death and dying in western societies are medical events and what aspects of death and dying might be neglected as a consequence.
7. Helen Langdon’s ‘Caravaggio’ Accounts of Caravaggio’s life are filled with suggestions of murder and intrigue. But does knowing more about this dark artist’s experiences help us to interpret his art? Or does understanding his motivations cloud their true meaning? This unit explores the biographical monograph, one of the most common forms of art history writing.
8. Sensory augmentation devices How can new technology help you to play a new musical instrument?
9. English grammar in context The use of grammar is more complex than it appears. This unit looks at the way grammar can be used as a tool for adapting our communications (both written and spoken) in ways which present us and our message in different lights.
10. The body: a phenomenological psychological perspective The body has traditionally been treated as a biological object in psychology. However, is there more to our bodies than that?