iRadio - OUM's Official Internet Radio Station

iRadio - OUM

Open University Malaysia's (OUM) official internet radio station, iRadio OUM broadcasts segments based on OUM's courses, blending entertainment and education at your fingertips! Interestingly, it is Malaysia's first Internet radio station to base its programmes on modules offered by a university.

Although, I have known about OUM's iRadio initiative for some time, it was first today I really explored it. Earlier today, we (IMU group) had actually visited OUM for some other matters, and during the process we got to learn more about iRadio behind the scenes. I was quite impressed with the energy and passion sparked into this initiative.

You can actually download some of their course module books in MP3 format (audio books!) for free (they are using text-to-speech tools to convert them). If you miss the daily live learning sessions, you can listen or download later from their iCast archive, conveniently organized according to faculty, schools and special segments.

Also, the iRadio team is using web 2.0 tools such as iTunes, Twitter and Facebook to simplify the access, spread the news, and communicate more effectively with their audience. Since launch (2007), they have had online visitors from more than a 100 countries.

Finally, I did manage to listen to some of their iCasts, and it was quite interesting. However, I would strongly recommend that they cut out the background music while people talk, especially when special guests are being interviewed. I was getting quite dizzy and distracted listening to cool music, while trying to grasp what the old Professor was trying to say.

I suppose I am getting too old to multitask my ears while learning. But, overall OUM's iRadio initiative is a wonderful knowledge and learning sharing model that we should encourage more Universities in Malaysia to explore :)