MIT, one of the most recognized educational institutions of the world, especially in high-tech related sciences is yet again coming up with a revolutionary idea: They’re making all their classes available to anyone through the Internet. The project is called OpenCourseWare (OCW).
Take a class in anything – study Aeronautics and Astronautics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, or how about the Strategic Management and Consulting Proseminar: Theoretical Foundations Spring 2003 at the Sloan School of Management.
Read about the project in “MIT Everyware“, a September Wired article that profiles how global learners are using MIT’s innovative OpenCourseWare (OCW).
This will be an important resource, no doubt, for people all over the world with the interest and intellectual capacity to follow a class at MIT, but lacking the funds or opportunity to attend the school on campus. Moreover, it will also inspire other educational institutions to share their courses as well. In a few years, taking a class at a reputable university will not only be for the affluent. This may become an equalizing factor in line with the egalitarian ideals of academia, but here lies yet another challenge: what will happen to the value of their diploma when practically anybody can take a class at MIT?
