Learning can come from books, or it can come from streaming TV interviews about books and authors. Video produced by universities, major television networks and organizations all provide entertaining and enlightening shows, lectures and films that can enhance learning experiences for students of all ages. The following top 40 sources for open courseware videos (meaning they are no charge and educational) are categorized and listed in alphabetical order within those categories.
University and College Videos
CalTech Today’s Streaming Theater: Topics include science and technology, campus life and society and culture.- Carleton University Television (CUTV): Now in its 31st year of operation, more than 80 000 students from around the world have used CUTV distributed courses to learn and complete a University degree program.
- Columbia Interactive: This is the official gateway to selected electronic learning resources developed by Columbia University.
- Dartmouth Chance Videos: Chance is a quantitative literacy course developed cooperatively by the Chance Team members, all from various colleges. The video lectures include discussion of Chance topics.
- Duke University on Demand: View lectures, interesting speakers, lively events and more on this Duke on Demand Web site.
- Harvard @ Home: Harvard offers exciting teaching, cutting-edge research, and noteworthy events that define and distinguish the University today.
- Landon Lecture Series: Gain live access on day of lecture or view archived lectures on public issues, thanks to Kansas State University.
- MIT World Video Index: This free and open site provides on-demand video of significant public events, lectures and more at MIT.
- Rice Educational Technologies: View featured events, recently archived Webcasts and use their calendar for future events to use in classes.
- UCLA Webcasts: UCLA Instructional Media Production (IMP) provides live Webcasts of important and interesting campus events.
- Virginia Law Videos: The topics included in these video lectures and information sessions range from administrative law to wrongful conviction.
- Webcast Berkeley: Courses and events offered by the University of California (UC) Berkeley, also offered as podcasts.
- World Lecture Hall: This is your entry point to free online course materials from around the world, offered by the University of Texas at Austin.
Organizational Videos and Collections
Academic Earth: The videos are free and the lectures are from a variety of higher educational sources.- ARKive: With the help of the world’s best filmmakers, photographers, conservationists and scientists, ARKive is creating the ultimate multimedia guide to the world’s endangered species.
- C-SPAN Video Library: The C-SPAN Archives records, indexes, and archives all C-SPAN programming for historical, educational, research, and archival uses.
- CERN Webcast Service: The CERN Webcast Service opens CERN lectures and seminars to universities, schools and to the general public.
- Community Video: This site previously was known as Open Source Video, but nothing else has changed. You can find free movies, films and videos on just about every topic imaginable here.
- Forum Network: Get in touch with this wide variety of lectures and speakers from public stations and community partners.
- Free Documentaries: This site streams full-length documentary films free of charge, with no registration needed. For several films, they even offer the ability to watch trailers or to download the actual film.
- Mathematical Sciences Research Institute: MSRI provides streaming video lectures on VMath and math education.
- Moving Image Collections: Take a seat at a window to the world’s moving images. MIC is a collaboration of organizations and individuals in moving image archives, information technology, and digital education.
- PsychLectures: If you need free online psychology lectures from top universities, this site can help with your search.
- ScholarSpot: Videos located on this site focus on science, self-growth, technology, politics and more.
- TED: You can find many videos here, all on different topics and provided by interesting individuals. Just remember the slogan: “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.”
- The Science Network: The mission of The Science Network (TSN) is to build an online science and society agora, or public square, dedicated to the discussion of issues at the intersection of science and social policy.
- Web of Stories: Web of Stories currently has two channels: Great Lives and Remarkable People. Web of Stories is published by Web of Stories Ltd and is a member of the Science Navigation Group.
Educational Television
ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation provides a vast array of learning materials. Topics range from education to indigenous peoples and from parenting to religion.- American Field Guide: Immerse your students in the great outdoors without ever leaving the classroom. Choose from over 1400 videos on topics ranging from animals to recreation.
- BBC Learning: Subjects on this popular open-source online television site range from art and design to science. Over 6,000 video clips are available for your classrooms that range from young people to adults.
- Bio: Need biographies for classroom material? Use this site to watch videos, read news and gain insight into some very important people.
- Book TV: C-SPAN2 offers 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors from Saturday 8am (ET) to Monday 8am (ET) every week, with archived materials available any time.
- Discovery Channel: Storm chasers, science, history and animals abound in this multicultural and exciting learning venue.
- NASA TV: Not only does NASA provide video, it offers HD TV, interactive features, 3D resources, blogs, podcasts and videos.
- National Geographic Video: Over 50 videos are available that focus on weather, animals, environment and history.
- Nova: This link takes you to the archives, and Nova offers a new beta site with up-to-date videos, all at any teacher’s disposal.
- OneWorld TV: These videos from around the world were contributed by OneWorld members. A focus is on cultural difference, environment and economics.
- PBS: Public Broadcasting Station offers TV shows and video, including American Experience, American Masters, Need to Know and Washington Week.
- Thirteen: This site is all about New York Public Media. If you want to find public media in your state, simply search for the name of your state + public media to find a Web site.
- University of California TV Video on Demand: UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects of interest to a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, education issues, and even gardening and agriculture.