Free lectures from top-notch universities

Have you ever wished you could attend lectures at famous universities at no charge? Now you can, thanks to the Internet. More and more schools are posting lectures on Youtube, iTunesU and other multimedia distribution lines.

We're talking big schools here - MIT, Stanford, Berkely, Duke, Yale, Tufts and more. Most are in the USA, but there are some in the UK and Australia.

To find a lecture that suits your interests you can do a simple Google search. Include the words: free lecture video in your search.

Or, you can browse lists of universities and topics at

• Education Portal
  
• World Lecture Hall
• Fathom
  
• LectureFox (The main site was down when I wrote this, but here's the cached version, which shows links to the various schools.)
  

A recent article on Wired.com discusses the implications of this trend. For the intellectually curious, the selection is a goldmine. But the free lectures are also helpful to people in remote areas of the world that would not otherwise have access to quality education. Also, for high-school students exploring college options, it's a great way to sample the courses and the professors.

More educational video sources are listed in my blog post of June 24.

Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Blogs that bring psychology to life

I love to follow the latest developments in psychology. For that I have Google alerts emailed to me whenever the word psychology, psychologist or psychological is mentioned in the news.

But I also love the more casual commentary on psychological issues - which you can find on blogs. Here are some of my favorite psychology blogs:

PsychCentral Blog: John Grohol was one of the very first psychologists on the Web. What started as a pretty good directory to mental health resources online became an excellent hub of psychological knowledge. The blog is part of this comprehensive website.

Cognitive Daily: Psychologist Greta Munger and her husband Dave select interesting news articles about psychological research, and add their own twist. They also answer readers' questions with thoughtful and comprehensive answers. If you are the curious type, CognitiveDaily is a great place to visit and to add to your blog reader.

Mind Hacks: Another blog that asks and answers provocative questions, with emphasis on neuroscience and the brain.

PsyBlog: I like this one, with its emphasis on positive psychology. Also has links to other psychology blogs.


Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Study guides and strategies

Know any students?

Study Guides and Strategies is a website with dozens of articles and resources on learning, studying and writing. Topic headings include: Preparing for tests, Reading skills, Learning with others, Math tests, and more.

Author Joe Landesberger includes tips on how to motivate yourself, how to take notes, how to manage stress, how to learn with ADHD and dozens of others. There are also links to other websites on exploring your own learning style, study skills websites, web design bibliography, and thinking-type games.

What's more, the content of Study Guides and Strategies is available in several different languages. Click on a tab at the left side of the page to instantly translate from English.

The author generously gives permission to "copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners." So if you are an educator, or if you know one, pass along this resource.

Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Fun 1-minute science news

Got a minute? Each day Scientific American's "60-Second Science" presents a 1-minute audio summary of a new finding from the world of science.

Aimed at the general public, the news stories are presented in plain English, often with a humorous twist. I'm amazed at how much they can pack into 60-seconds in such an informative and entertaining way.

Recent stories include some potential benefits of coffee and cigarettes; whether "new car" smell is a health threat; and the discouraging results from research on dieting.

You can listen online or subscribe to the podcast:
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/

-- Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
http://teachmeinternet.com