GeekSugar

First Look at iTunes U App For iPad

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:50:36 PST

With student loan costs rising to astronomic levels, those on a quest for learning may be forced to find less expensive alternatives outside the traditional classroom. Thank your lucky stars for iTunes U's free online classes, now neatly compiled into an awesome iPad app so you can take your lessons on the go. Apple announced the new iTunes U iPad app this morning during its education-themed event (learn more about their iBooks 2 and iBooks Author apps as well) that brings together hundreds of open courses and lectures from some of the most prestigious colleges from around the globe. Free classes from ivy league schools? Don't mind if I do.

The iTunes U app is free to download and the classes are free to take and stream, so what do you have to lose? We browsed through the iTunes U app today and snapped a few pics, so check them out in the slideshow and tell us - will these new apps and free courses urge you to buy an iPad if you don't already have one?

Apple Supplements iBooks 2 and iBooks Author With the iTunes U App

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:59:59 PST

Over 700,000 people have taken in a free class or lecture on iTunes U, and Apple wants to make things easier for teachers to create an interactive online environment with their iPad. Educators can compile all the information needed for a class right inside the iTunes U app - syllabus, assignments, office hours, and teacher notes, and they can even stream from a full classroom. Over 100 courses have already been created from a number of prestigious colleges across the country, including Yale, Duke, Stanford, MIT, and more.

But now iTunes U isn't just for college levels. Apple is opening up iTunes U to K-12 levels as well, allowing teachers to create full courses and students to study, stream, and view assignments, teacher notes, and course details from their iPads.

The iTunes U app is available today for free in the App Store.

Have You Taken Any Courses From iTunes U Yet?

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:44:56 PST

iTunes U has been around for some time now offering up cool courses from schools around the country that you can download straight to your iPod Touch or iPhone. I don't know what took me so long, but I just took a few free courses on video editing over the past week and I gotta tell ya: it's pretty awesome.

I take public transportation every day to work, so being able to brush up on math, grammar, and even astronomy during my commute seems like time well spent. And you don't have to spend a dime, since all the courses are free. There's been quite a bit of content added since it launched last year, so tell me - have you taken any iTunes U courses yet?

iTunes U: Free Educational Content at Your Fingertips

GeekSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:00:40 PDT

With back to school season right around the corner, I guess you can say I'm getting in the "school spirit" by showcasing some informative and educational tech tools. Well there's now a way you can access educational content 24/7 and it's called iTunes U. Filled with audiobooks, free lectures from hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, video files from museums, and language lessons, iTunes U makes learning easy and accessible. You can also sync iTunes U content to your iPhone or iPod and access it from your Mac or PC. Wondering where to find all this amazing stuff? Go to the iTunes store, and you'll find iTunes U under the iTunes store heading on the left side of the page. Check it out, it seriously makes learning fun.

Interview With Edun's Ali Hewson and Sharon Wauchob

FabTV — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:01:04 PST

We went backstage at eco-friendly line Edun's Fall 2011 runway show to get the inside scoop from founder Ali Hewson, Bono's wife, and designer Sharon Wauchob on their newest collection. Watch it now and discover all there is to know about Edun's silky landscape-based prints, experimental use of color, and the designing duo's ongoing love of chunky knits.

Udacity and 14 Other Free Sites For Online Learning

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:51:42 PST

After seeing the success of a personal experiment offering a free Stanford University-certified artificial intelligence course (23,000 people completed the class!), Sebastian Thrun left his prestigious professor position to dedicate himself to teaching on a much larger scale. His new program, Udacity will offer free university-level computer science classes to anyone interested in advancing their tech knowledge.

The two courses currently up for the taking are "CS 101: Building a Search Engine" and "CS 373: Programming a Robotic Car." But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to free online classes. Here, a list of places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle.

Yale Open Courses - Named one of Time magazine's top 50 websites of 2011, Yale's classes allow anyone to browse through lectures and course materials in subjects including engineering, chemistry, astronomy, sociology, Spanish, history, and more.
MIT OpenCourseWare - With over 2,000 courses available at your fingertips, MIT OpenCourseWare should be your first (and maybe your only) stop in online learning.
Online Education Database - This website offers up a list of 200 free classes you can take online. Take some physics classes and learn about the phenomenon of superconductivity, or retake that algebra class you struggled with in high school.
OpenCulture - This website offers up a list of free classes from top universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and even some video lectures you can find on YouTube.
Harvard Open Learning - Watch videos of lectures on computer science and abstract algebra, among others
Princeton Web Media - Browse through and take in archived lectures from Princeton's math, science, and engineering departments, and lots, lots more.

See more websites to get your online learning on after the break.

4 Free Science Courses From iTunes

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:28:00 PDT

Even if you've been out of school for years, there's no need to feel left out while watching kids head back to the classroom, as you have a free resource to get your learning on. iTunes U, available through the iTunes store, offers content from over 1,000 universities, and nearly half of these schools including those known for stellar science programs like Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge among others, offer course lectures to the general public. Download these video classes if you've always wanted to spout astrophysics and computer programming knowledge like an expert. Also looking for French help or history lessons? Take some time browsing through class offerings; with hundreds available, there's something for everyone.

Astrophysics: Frontiers and Controversies, Yale - Focusing on three areas of astronomy: extra-solar planets, black holes, and dark energy, this course pays special attention to how astronomers are learning more in the field and what is still unknown in the universe.
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - For students with no previous programming experience, in 24 lectures this course teaches how to write small Python language-based small programs.
Developing Apps For iOS, Stanford - Intended for students with a background in C-language computer programming, this course teaches how to create efficient applications for Apple's iOS platform through lecture videos and PDF documents.
Women's Health, University of California campuses - Learn more about promoting personal health straight from the prestigious doctors and researchers from the University of California colleges. Lectures include tips for stress, diabetes in women, and research on aging.

Exclusive! Apple and MAC Team Up For MAC² Makeup

Annie Tomlin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:10:43 PDT

Girl geeks will soon be a-twitter about the news that cosmetics giant MAC is releasing a limited-edition makeup collaboration with Apple. In news revealed exclusively to BellaSugar, the collection of lipsticks and eye shadows - MAC², get it? - coincides with the 10th anniversary of Mac OS X and the iPod, and is launching today, on the 35th anniversary of Apple's founding.

"Like Apple, MAC likes to think different," said MAC public relations associate Donna Scherzo. "Their commitment to innovation and design pairs perfectly with MAC's tradition of pushing boundaries." Scherzo spoke at a top-secret launch event in Cupertino, which brought beauty experts and engineers together. Makeup artists offered guidance on creating three different looks, while engineers provided lessons on Objective C programming basics.

Full collection photos and more info this way.

Teach Yourself With These Free Online Education Sites

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:30:04 PDT

Truth is, there are an amazing number of ways you can get a quality educational experience online, without ever having to fork over any cash. The cost of a college education is pretty remarkable these days, and not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree from an Ivy League school (especially in this economy). But nearly everyone can afford the cost of an Internet connection, or even a library card.

Named one of Time Magazine's top 50 websites of 2011, Yale's open courses allow anyone to browse through lectures and course materials that range from engineering and chemistry, to astronomy, sociology, Spanish, history, and more. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to free online classes. Here, a list of places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle.

MIT OpenCourseWare - With over 2,000 courses available at your fingertips, MIT OpenCourseWare should be your first (and maybe your only) stop in online learning.
Online Education Database - This website offers up a list of 200 free classes you can take online. Take some physics classes and learn about the phenomenon of superconductivity, or retake that algebra class you struggled with in high school.
OpenCulture - This website offers up a list of free classes from top universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley, and even some video lectures you can find on YouTube.
Harvard Open Learning - Watch videos of lectures on computer science and abstract algebra among others
Princeton Web Media - Browse through and take in archived lectures from Princeton's math, science, and engineering departments, and lots, lots more.

See the rest of the list after the break.

11 Ways to Find Free Classes Online

GeekSugar — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:00:00 PDT

A college education will get you far in business, but according to Bill Gates (a college dropout himself), a place-based college education system that is so prominent today will soon be shadowed by what you can teach yourself online. During a recent interview at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA, the former Microsoft CEO predicted that in the next five years, you'll be able to find the best educational lectures for free online, which will make the Internet "better than any single university."

I'd have to agree with him on one point - there are an amazing number of ways you can get a quality educational experience online, without ever having to fork over any cash. The cost of a college education is pretty remarkable these days, and not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree from an Ivy League school. But nearly everyone can afford the cost of an Internet connection, or even a library card. Here, I'll show you 11 places to point your web browser for free classes online, so you can soak up all the knowledge your brain can handle!

To see the list, just keep reading!