Blog Post: Open Source Education

"It is clear to us that by thinking of knowledge as a public good for the benefit of all, and acting on this philosophy through OpenCourseWare, we can make a difference," says Susan Hockfield, President of MIT.  She's talking about MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative, an idea proposed in 2000, initiated with 50 courses in 2002, and completed in December 2007.  The concept? Advance education and discovery through knowledge open to everyone.  The method?  Publish teaching materials, for free, on-line.

The pilot version of OCW went live with 50 courses, and included translations in Spanish and Portuguese.  Courseware was steadily added each year thereafter: 500 by 2003, 1,250 by 2005, up to 1,800 in 2007.  MIT plans to create 200 new and updated courses per year starting in 2008.

The movement caught on.  In 2005, an OpenCourseWare Consortium was formed, creating "a collaboration of more than 100 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model."

This concept of educating people through a shared model isn't localized to the OpenCourseWare Consortium.  The concept of disseminating knowledge for free began in 2000 with Nupedia, the precursor to Wikipedia.  Wikipedia, which has tapped into the collective knowledge of 75,000 active contributors, has had the most press, both good and bad, for its contribution to the world's pool of knowledge.  Other models joined the internet later.  eHow.com, for example, provides step-by-step "how to" instructions for tasks ranging from setting up a football pool to applying for a passport.  Yet only OCW holds the cachet of higher education to back the information it provides.

This has caught the eye of quite a few people: 40 millions visits by 31 million visitors visited MIT's site alone, according to MIT's OCW site.  They provide site demographics as well, showing that 49% of their visitors are self-learners.  Of those self-learners, 58.1% state they're using the site to enhance personal knowledge, 18% are researching to keep current with developments in their field, and 11% are planning a future course of study.

MIT, of course, is quick to warn that OCW is not an MIT education.  But it appears to very well be a launching pad for an education of your choosing. 

"There is no limit to the power of the mind," says Susan Hockfield.  "We encourage you to use OCW—learn from it and build on it. Find new ways not only to pursue your personal academic interests, but to use the knowledge that you gain—and that you create—to make our world a better place. In the spirit of open sharing, we also encourage you to share your scholarship with others, as over 150 other universities are already doing through their own OCWs."