Have You Ever Wanted to Take a Course at Harvard?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Harvard Extension School announces the release of select course content, free of charge to the general public, through iTunes U (http://itunes.extension.harvard.edu/).

Free public access is being offered to video previews of 15 of the 50 Harvard Extension School distance education courses that are available this spring. Previews are in the fields of computer science, management, environmental science, history, and the liberal arts. Each 10- to 15-minute long video introduction gives the viewer a virtual taste of the Harvard classroom and the opportunity to experience Harvard Extension School distance education. Audio of each complete two-hour introductory lecture is also available for downloading.

Courses are taught by distinguished faculty from Harvard and other universities as well as working professionals who bring their valuable expertise to the classroom. Course previews include Harvard professor Mikael Adolphson's Japan: Tradition and Transformation; Harvard professor Shaye J. D. Cohen’s A Thematic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible; Harvard’s Scott Bradner’s Advanced Topics in Data Networking, and Suffolk University professor Robert J. Allison's The History of Boston. Online registration for complete courses is possible through February 4. For a full list of courses visit www.extension.harvard.edu/DistanceEd.

An additional course, Bits, which explores living in the digital media world and is taught by Harvard professor Harry R. Lewis, will be available via podcast in its entirety later this spring. The course complements Understanding Computers and the Internet, a 16-week fall term course currently available as a podcast. Taught by Harvard’s David J. Malan, this course has already gained popularity as the first Harvard course to be available as a podcast. The Harvard Extension School will continue to add more video and audio content as it becomes available.

iTunes U is a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides easy access to their educational content, including lectures and interviews. Through iTunes U, students can download content to their Macs or PCs, regardless of their location. They can listen to and view that content on their Mac or PC, or transfer it to an iPod. Most content at iTunes U is geared toward matriculated students, but several iTunes U public sites allow anyone in the world to learn how universities are sharing audio and video content in new ways that advance learning and communication beyond the classroom.

For nearly a century, the Harvard Extension School—recognized as a national and international leader in the field of continuing studies—has given the wider community access to many of Harvard University’s academic resources. It offers more than 600 courses in 66 subjects and numerous degree and certificate programs designed to meet the needs of adult students. This year, 100 Harvard Extension School courses are available online for credit or noncredit.

The Harvard Extension School’s distance education program is distinctive in that actual lectures conducted on campus are videotaped, then made available online along with other course-related material. Students who take courses online complete the same coursework as students who take them on campus; thus, students may use credits earned via distance education to complete requirements for many Harvard Extension School degree and certificate programs. Currently the Certificate in Environmental Management and the Certificate in Applied Sciences may be completed entirely online.

For further information about the Harvard Extension School, visit www.extension.harvard.edu.