College Gets Podcasted

Want to attend Yale for free? Thanks to Apple, you sort of can. Many colleges, including Yale, Stanford and MIT, now offer free lecture downloads through iTunes U. You won’t get a diploma, but thousands of non-traditional learners don’t mind, the LA Times reports. “They thirst for understanding and knowledge,” said one podcasted prof. “Something revolutionary is happening.”

Apple hosts and promotes the lectures to engender goodwill with colleges, who buy lots of Apple computers, and as a way to increase demand for iPods. For colleges, the downloads are a noble means of spreading knowledge – and maybe of promoting their wares. An added benefit? Students who cut class now have no excuse not to get caught up. (More higher education stories.)