Princeton University recently decided to close its University Channel which provided free accessible academic lectures and materials from all over the world. UChannel, an initiative from the Princeton Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs no longer makes financial sense as a result having become outdated by newly emerging technologies such as the growing popularity of ITunes U and YouTube EDU. UChannel as an independent collection of free accessible materials, no longer made financial sense and the university is encouraging partners to broadcast their materials through more financially viable and accessible technologies (http://uc.princeton.edu/main/).
In their official statement they expressed their continued support for online education programs and expressed their belief “that non-commercial, quality educational programming is an important part of the world wide web.” They also stated that most of their material will be moved to Princeton’s ITunes U Channel, away from UChannel’s ITunes U. Hopefully despite the change in web domain, most of the materials will soon be accessible through its webpage and ITunes U by UChannel’s closing date.
As a consequence, their website and links to material from the Princeton YouTube channel and ITunes U page will be removed from the internet on November 3, 2010.
Allowing individuals to host videos if they are under 10 minutes for free, and podcasts being developed for ITunes U by schools or individual with a smaller endowment or budget, including some independent community schools and individuals, it seems unlikely that, had the university wanted to, that the funds for the website could have been allocated.
Yet, unfortunately, while more and more institutions have began to share their academic materials online, Princeton, one of the world most renowned universities, which currently rank eight in the world according to the 2010 US News and World Report on the 400 World’s Best University. Princeton has regrettably decided to at least temperately remove UChannel’s freely accessible material without offering any insight as to whether or not this information will be posted again in the future.* While it can be hoped that this information one day will be freely accessible once again and that Princeton soon will announce an alternative, access to Princeton UChannel material will be, as of November 9, temporally closed.
Sources:
*- Wall Street Journal article regarding Princeton Endowment – (January 09, 2009) http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB123144321867865239.html
>> A more recent article from Business Week regarding Princeton Endowment (February 10, 2010) http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-10/princeton-raises-endowment-growth-forecast-to-10-from-zero.html
*- Link to US News and World Report 400 World Best Universities (2010) http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-top-400.html
