MIT Open Courseware Videos Don't Play

[jchunter]

There must be a workaround here.
I was able to get to ocw.mit.edu via safari but the course videos don't play.
Tried it via OPlayerHD and it displays the dreaded "no flash" error. (Thanks Steve. )
Can't find the courses in iTunes...
This site has over 2000 college courses on line. What is the secret?

 

[twerppoet]

Edit, missed your iTunes U reference on first read, so this is probably not going to help. Sorry.

iTunes U, has many MIT courses available. Try searching for your course in iTunes. Maybe you'll get lucky and find it there.

A quick perusal of the MIT site mentions iTunes U, so the odds aren't that bad.

 

[twerppoet]

Another thought, you can always try contacting the department for the course you want, and see if they named it something different for iTunes U, or have plans to put it up, or an alternate site to download the video from that does not use Flash.

 

[jchunter]

I also tried Carnegie Mellon's Open Courseware oli.web.cmu.edu, which unfortunately also requires Adobe Flash Player. No go.
So it seems that the iPad is just one silly license away from being the world's finest college student computer.

Apple seems to have its butt in a crack on this one.

 

[jsh1120]

Obviously MIT and Carnegie Mellon are simply behind the curve. What can one expect from such technologically challenged institutions?

 

[twerppoet]

Obviously MIT and Carnegie Mellon are simply behind the curve. What can one expect from such technologically challenged institutions?

Verily.

If you visit iTunes U on the computer, select MIT from the Featured Providers, then select MIT OpenCourseWare from the Collections at the bottom right they only have 125 courses out of over the 2000 available in that catagory. Pitifull.

Edit: removed last comment due to poor reading comprehention on my part.

 

[twerppoet]

I did a little playing arround on the MIT site. It took me a while to find a course with video content, and when I did both of thm played in Safari. They were YouTube links. Luck of the draw I guess.

Anyway, to the point. I noticed that below the video there was a tab for downloading the video. However there are alternatives that should be able to download the videos easily. Formost is OPlayer. I recommend it because it will store and play the videos, as well as let you browse the site to download them.

Goodreader can also download files from the internnet and offers traditional file mangment (within the app only), but is more limited in what formats it will play.

If you need a more capble browser with good download capbilities iCab Moblie does a nice job.

In the case of both Goodreader and iCab Mobile, those files that can not be viewed in the app can be copied to another more capable video app using Open In... .

I hope that was slightly more helpfull than my previous posts.

 

[jsh1120]

You've redeemed yourself admirably.

 

[jchunter]

If you visit iTunes U on the computer, select MIT from the Featured Providers, then select MIT OpenCourseWare from the Collections at the bottom right they only have 125 courses out of over the 2000 available in that catagory. Pitifull.

Yes, 6% is pitiful. Also, iTunes on my iPad does not display the word "Collections" on the lower right. ??

I did find several courses that do play but they do not use Adobe Flash. They are vanilla video with no interactive graphics.
Their most technologically advanced teaching features include motor powered blackboards and colored chalk.

 

[twerppoet]

Yes, 6% is pitiful. Also, iTunes on my iPad does not display the word "Collections" on the lower right. ??

ITunes on the computer. I didn't even look using the iPad. Sorry.

I noticed that only a small portion of the courses I looked at had video or audio, so the percentage of courses that were worth putting on iTunes U may be much higher. The two courses I did look at had options to download from iTunes U, as well as the archive.

I did find several courses that do play but they do not use Adobe Flash. They are vanilla video with no interactive graphics.
Their most technologically advanced teaching features include motor powered blackboards and colored chalk.

That might not be cutting edge, but I'd keep those arround just for the cool factor. Add a joystick and it would be like a giant Etch A Sketch.

 

[OCWJoe]

Hi Guys - I am the Production Manager at OCW, maybe I can help. Can you tell me more about the error you are receiving and a url of the page that you're getting it? We just upgraded to the latest version of JW that should fully support iOS. I've tested the vids on iPhone and iPad 1 and all are working well.

T

 

[Heaviside]

An interesting thread! It seems to me that most of the colleges and universities offer a very limited selection of courses via iTunes---and many of them are only course fragments.

On the issue of technology, I have a definite opinion after over forty years of "professing". It is the preparation and delivery that are important, not the mode of delivery. As an example of a well-done lecture, try any of Walter Lewin's lectures on physics (on iTunes). I don't know the guy, but I can certainly recognize a good, well-constructed lecture. On the other hand, try a random sample of others and use the experience to evaluate my following assertions.

There is virtually no emphasis nowadays on planning and delivering good lectures. Today's student expects lots of technical effects to hold his or her attention, and academic administrators would like to do away with live teachers because they are a high expense item. So they want to mass market their product, reaching as many paying students as possible. They expect their faculty to raise funding and spread the fame of their institution as widely as possible. That prof who prepares lectures instead of writing grant proposals does neither.

All that said, it's too bad there isn't more attention (and funding) expended to modernize that old delivery technology---for all those technical effects aren't inherently bad. They are just used too often only for the gee whiz! effect.

Sorry for the rant, now back on topic---?

 

[jchunter]

Hi Guys - I am the Production Manager at OCW, maybe I can help. Can you tell me more about the error you are receiving and a url of the page that you're getting it? We just upgraded to the latest version of JW that should fully support iOS. I've tested the vids on iPhone and iPad 1 and all are working well.

T

Thans for joining in, Joe.
To duplicate my first problem, go to ocw.mit.edu with Safari on your iPad 2, Under Find Courses, select Engineering
Then select Electrical Engineering,
Then select Circuits and Electronics,
Then select Video Lectures,
Then select Lecture 1: "Go to this video". Push Play button.
(Home>Courses>Electrical Engineering and Computer Science>Circuits and Electronics>Video Lectures )
I get a blank video screen with a slash thru it.

Edit: Now, had I been prescient, knowing the exact title of the course in advance, I could have searched iTunes (on the iPad), and would have found the same lecture in a form that was playable.

Edit2: For an example of a course that explicitly requires Adobe Flash Player, try to play the videos in Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, also under EE and Computer Science. Once again, after finding out the exact course title, I was able to find a suitably modified course version in iTunes / ipad2 that played in the iPod app.

Bottom line, considering all the time and effort wasted in trying to check out and modify every single one of the 2000 MIT courses individually (in each and every university) vs. simply licensing Adobe Flash Player once for the iPad, the answer is obvious. The university presidents should pass a collection plate around among themselves to buy an Adobe Flash License for Apple!

 

[OCWJoe]

I just got my hands on an iPad 2 and all videos work fine... not sure what to suggest next. Maybe a local setting on your iPad?

 

[jchunter]

Are you using Safari to access the videos or are you downloading the modified versions through iTunes?