By Megan Mansell Williams

One lecture from mechanical engineering professor Lisa Pruitt’s ME C117 class, Structural Aspects of Biomaterials, has been viewed more than 6,800 times so far on YouTube.

YouTube isn’t just a venue for fictional diaries (LonelyGirl) or odes of undying love for presidential hopefuls (Obama Girl). It’s for learning, too. Last fall UC Berkeley became the first university to post full courses on the wildly popular, free video-sharing website. And Berkeley Engineering is a hit.

“Having the classes available has incredible advantages,” says electrical engineering and computer sciences professor David Attwood, whose AST 210/EE 213 class, Soft X-Rays and Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation, is up. Some of his lectures have been viewed as many as 8,000 times since being posted. “You hear the students ask good questions,” Attwood says. “With the dialogue that goes on, you know Berkeley is a high-quality place.” 

Berkeley’s YouTube channel already offers more than 300 hours—and that’s growing all the time—of video, from General Human Anatomy with Marian Diamond, to Physics for Future Presidents with Richard A. Muller. One of mechanical engineering professor Lisa Pruitt’s lectures from ME C117, Structural Aspects of Biomaterials, an overview of medical devices, regulatory issues, biocompatibility and sterilization technology, has been viewed more than 6,800 times so far.

The viewers—who include students, professors and industry leaders around the world—seem to like what they see. Handle wilwon33 comments, “Prof L Pruitt presents a delightful overview of considerations which must be taken to properly design a useful, long-lived prosthetic device.” And magna188 adds, “kool! I’m going to get a head start for college!” 

While some UC Berkeley courses have been online since 2001 at webcast.berkeley.edu, YouTube reaches a broader audience. “The site is more than just an entertainment destination,” says Jordan Hoffner, head of Premium Content Partnerships for YouTube. “We are pleased that higher education institutions are leveraging opportunities to promote and distribute their content to a worldwide audience.”

Will online learning replace the classroom? Not according to Attwood, who recently had his EE 290f class in Synchrotron Radiation for Materials Science Applications added to YouTube’s roster. “This is not high school,” he says. “This is their career. The students wouldn’t get the degree and they wouldn’t get the peer interaction if they stayed home.” 

Attwood thinks the benefits of offering courses for free on YouTube far outweigh any negatives. “Opportunities appear for faculty who put the extra effort into getting classes online. We get research contracts from industry people watching. The NSF is interested in outreach. I’m asked to serve on advisory boards. There’s nearly a contact made every day from this.”

Go to http://www.youtube.com/ucberkeley. You just might learn something.