Update 2022: Classroom.fm doesn’t exist anymore. We suggest you to try this website instead.
Classroom.fm is a free website to watch Stanford lectures online free. These videos are actual videos of lectures given at Stanford University. This website is dedicated to run these lecture videos 24/7 and can be viewed from anywhere across the world. The videos used are recorded YouTube videos and they are streamed to create a classroom experience for the viewer.
It feels like attending a online class when you land on the website and start watching a video. You can see a screenshot of the home page of this website below.
The above shown interface is all there is to the website. The left side window will have back to back lecture videos playing round the clock. Whereas, the right window will show a small description about the website and what it does.
When you hover your mouse over on the video which is playing it will display the title of the video. Along the title it will show you three options on the top right corner of the video screen. These options are:
- The Four square icon: this icon shows you suggested videos. If you are watching a video on a particular topic, then this option would show you suggested videos on the same topic.
- The clock icon: this icon is for adding a video to the watch later list.
- The share icon: this icon is of course for sharing the video that you are watching with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc.
Each video is played and is then followed by a new video in a continuous loop.
As this website is still in beta phase, there are some bugs and errors which still need to be worked upon. Like the logout / login option doesn’t work currently. You cannot control the volume of the video, its just on of off right now. You can’t see the duration of the current video and neither can you see when the next video will start. Apart from this you have no control over videos being played like skipping a video or playing the next video in line. A search box also would have proved very useful, to search for videos related to topics you are interested in.
As an online classroom it would also be nice to see a integrated chat, to interact with other students who are watching the same lecture.
Overall, its a good website to watch Stanford lectures online. For students its a awesome platform to watch all these videos together. As the website is in beta we can only expect it to get better.
