Harvard offers CS course as podcast

Lectures of a Harvard extension class, Computer Science (CS) E-1: "Understanding Computers and the Internet" are now freely available as audio and video podcasts via iTunes. Since lectures have begun podcasting, "Understanding Computers and the Internet" has been featured in iTunes' top 100 podcasts and "New-and-Notable" list. Executive director Donna M. Liu said that she is noticing more and more schools capitalizing on the podcasting trend, with both individual and collective podcasts.

Podcasting has become essential for Sarka Dluhosova, a student using the program. "I can do it anywhere--I can listen to it when I'm on a bus or when I walk, when I run, when I drive. [...] I think I would expect it from now on almost as a standard, because I think it's very helpful, it definitely adds to the quality of learning," Dluhosova said. Pieter Burgess--a student and retired nursery school teacher--found podcasting extremely helpful when she had to miss lectures due to cross-country travel that was planned before she enrolled in the course, according to a report from The Harvard Crimson. "I'm 59 years old... I have to go over things a little more often. [Podcasting is] a brilliant way for us oldies to learn," Burgess said.

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