UCLB News

UCL first major university in Europe to be available on Apple's iTunes U

30 September 2008

UCL Business is delighted to announce a landmark agreement with Apple Computer’s iTunes service which will deliver a significant step forward in opening up UCL’s educational impact to the world with the launch of UCL on iTunes U, through which users can download lectures, interviews, seminars and news, and play audio and video materials on their iPod or computer.

Until now, only North American institutions have featured on iTunes U. Brokered with the assistance of UCL Business, the new partnership between UCL and Apple makes UCL the first mainstream UK university (and one of only three European universities, with Trinity College Dublin
and the Open University) to pioneer global participation in iTunes U.

UCL on iTunes U broadcasts talks and lectures by UCL academics, interviews and news of UCL research, and information for prospective staff and students. Two priority areas for UCL are in the spotlight first: Enterprise, bringing innovations in research to the marketplace, and Global Health, rallying the university’s breadth of intellectual capital to provide solutions to one of the world’s major problems.

Highlights of UCL on iTunes U include:

  • a virtual tour of this year’s UCL Slade School of Fine Art Summer Show
  • recent lectures by high-profile speakers, such as Dr Tadataka Yamada of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • first-hand expert accounts of the history of neuroscience, produced by the Wellcome Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL
  • a weekly audio round-up of news from UCL
  • UCL’s hugely popular Lunch Hour Lectures, providing the public with a behind-the-scenes look at cutting-edge research
  • an interview with UCL President and Provost Professor Malcolm Grant, who explains UCL’s mission as London’s global university and our vision for the future.

UCL will use the service to engage with key audiences both at home and abroad, building our profile as a leading research-intensive university offering innovative teaching.

Although the initial content is focused on publicly available material, the platform offers opportunities to enhance teaching, in the form of lectures and other innovative approaches. Professor Peter Mobbs, as chair of ESCILTA, is leading on the development of pedagogic approaches.

In addition, the platform will be developed to give staff and students the chance to generate and share their own content – discovery, analysis, imaginings – through audio and visual media.

Further information:
Mark Fleming, Director, Service Companies, UCL Business
Tel: 020 7679 9000
Email: m.flemming@uclb.com

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