UCI Launches Free Online Lecture Channel

More than 144 hours of UC Irvine’s best faculty lectures are now available for free viewing as part of Open Education TV, a project hosted by the university to increase access to higher education.

Viewers worldwide now have access to the lectures on the online channel, which began broadcasting this week to coincide with the inaugural Open Education Week, set up by the global OpenCourseWare Consortium.

To promote awareness of the new online channel, it is the main feature this week on UCI's OpenCourseWare website. Some of the courses available for viewing on the site are:

• CRIMINOLOGY, LAW AND SOCIETY C219: Hate Crimes

• PHYSICS 21: Science from Superheroes to Global Warming

• INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 164: Iraq Reconstruction

Explore the archive of courses, seminars and conferences here.

"UCI’s Open Education TV broadcast will allow anyone in the world access to the high quality content, video lectures, and materials produced by our faculty, on demand, for free. Our hope is that participants identify content they like and return after the inaugural week," said Gary W. Matkin, dean of continuing education, distance learning and summer session. "As a sustaining member of the OCW Consortium, we are committed to promoting and supporting this global event to increase access to higher education worldwide."

According to the university, UCI was the first West Coast university admitted to the OCW Consortium and is an acknowledged innovator in the movement.

"The Open Education TV channel will let other institutions see what our program encompasses and offer insights into how they can build sustainable initiatives of their own,” said UCI Chancellor Michael Drake in a statement about the initiative. "With thousands worldwide celebrating Open Education Week, UC Irvine is proud to have been an early participant in this movement to expand higher education opportunities through technology."

More than college courses are being broadcast, however. According to UCI, the campus has also produced a comprehensive series of courses designed to help educators pass California’s qualifying exams to teach high school math and science, assisted by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

"UC Irvine, along with a prestigious group of universities including Johns Hopkins and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, understands the importance of providing accessible resources not only for learning but also for teaching," said Larry Cooperman, director of the campus’s OCW project. "The Open Education TV channel will let other institutions see what our program encompasses and offer insights into how they can build sustainable initiatives of their own."