For me a quiet revolution took place on my iPad over the weekend. Not quite the gravitas of the Arab spring but definitely very, very, important. Apple have created a new App for the iPad; iTunes U, that essentially works as a conglomerator. But it's what it collects and gathers together that is really exciting. Universities, colleges, academic institutions and documentary makers have allowed a vast range of topics and materials to be presented and sorted together in a library format. You can search, select and then download; lectures, documentaries, audio files and supporting files which can then be accessed whenever you want. The range of topics is humongous, this weekend alone I have downloaded the following:

A series of lectures on Leadership from Cranfield University

A series of short presentations on Negotiation Skills by Alain Lempereur of Essec Business School, France

A series of audio files on brain physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

A documentary on Brain Function from UCTV - University of California

A series of lectures Introducing Philosophy from the Open University

A documentary on photography filmed by the National Geographic

An instructional video on Light Graffiti from Preston University

And whilst the quality cannot be guaranteed, so far, it's been excellent. The breadth and range of topics is breath taking and it can only grow. But here's the thing, it's free, Free, FRee, FREe, FREE!

You get the App from iTunes , launch it, search the library and download what you want and then view at will. It's a strange time we live in, with some media delivery business models being eroded or just outrightly destroyed, and some profit streams drying up and others being created. But almost certainly this is a major step in the direction of self directed learning and personal development that people are likely to take up in significant numbers.

In Apples own words: 'iTunes U — a powerful distribution system for everything from lectures to language lessons, films to labs, audiobooks to tours — is an innovative way to get educational content into the hands of students.' To that statement I can bear witness.