Star thinkers in ‘e-learning’ launch: Filmed lectures by twelve of the “world’s greatest thinkers” will be available to the public for a month before they become the foundation of a growing archive which universities will pay a fee to access, at Boxmind.com, which is apologetic about the need to charge money for the service. Licensees will also be able to record and archive their own faculties’ lectures in the same innovative format, which its founder describes as “the Internet library students have dreamed of”:

Because the lectures are not delivered by a live webcast
but by a broadcast of filmed material, users can stop the action
at any point and follow the extensive links on each page for
in-depth background information on specific points. The lectures
can also be rewound and examined line by line for weaknesses
in the argument.

The technology used for the site – www.boxmind.com – is as
inventive as the concept. Each lecture screen is split into four. In
the top left, a talking head delivers the lecture, while
synchronised slides run in the top right. In the bottom right there
is a synchronised transcript of the entire lecture – complete with
embedded footnotes – next to the relevant web links.

The initial twelve lecturers in the series, accessible here, are:

Richard Dawkins,
Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Charles Simonyi, professor
of the public understanding of science. Survival of
the Fittest – the Fittest What?

Niall Ferguson,
Professor of political and financial history, at Oxford. The Cash Nexus – Money and Power in the Modern World

Sir Martin Rees,
Astronomer Royal and Royal Society professor at Kings
College, Cambridge. Cosmic Evolution

Daniel Dennett,
Professor of philosophy, and director of the Center for Cognitive
Studies at Tufts University, Massachusetts.
Consciousness: More Like Fame Than Television

Peter Atkins,
SmithKline Beecham fellow and tutor in physical chemistry at
Lincoln College, Oxford. The Second Law

John Kay,
Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, and visiting professor of
economics at the London School of Economics.
The Foundations of Corporate Success

David Womersley,
Fellow and tutor in English literature and senior tutor of Jesus
College, Oxford. Tragedy and Individuality in
Othello

John Searle,
Mills professor of the philosophy of mind and language,
University of California at Berkeley.
Consciousness, Free Will and the Brain

Sir David Weatherall,
Regius professor of medicine at Oxford. The
Human Genome Project and the Future of Medical Practice

Ian Stewart,
Professor of mathematics at Warwick University.
Order and Chaos in Mathematics and Nature

Nicola Lacey,
Professor of criminal law at LSE. Criminal Law and
Modern Society

Steven Pinker,
Peter de Florez professor in the department of brain and
cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. The Ingredients of Language

I am interested in trying out this format, which sounds on the surface as if it is a great way to utilize web capabilities for disseminating information rather than trying to sell anything. I do wonder how much bandwidth a home user will need to view these without it being a frustrating experience. The Guardian