Share the Wealth

June 21, 2004 11:23 AM

MIT's OpenCourseWare project. Course materials for over 700 classes offered at the school, including syllabi, reading lists, related educational links for the self-learner. Get your knowledge on!!
posted by archimago (15 comments total)

Previously Posted
posted by destro at 11:39 AM on June 21, 2004

Not that it'll mean anything in another 30 minutes after this post is deleted, but it's new to me. Thanks.
posted by BlueTrain at 11:49 AM on June 21, 2004

Previously posted but good to see refreshed.
posted by Keyser Soze at 11:53 AM on June 21, 2004

Freaking cool. I didn't see this last time around.
posted by Quartermass at 12:29 PM on June 21, 2004

It's worth signing up for their newsletter - they add new stuff all the time.
An amazing resource.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 12:32 PM on June 21, 2004

Do Not Delete!
posted by crunchburger at 12:57 PM on June 21, 2004

pretty amazing, but what about the reading material for the courses? Some of the textbooks for the courses are prerry expensive and I would imagine many courses would rely on that material quite heavily.
posted by darkpony at 2:06 PM on June 21, 2004

It was new to me, too ... so it was useful, it seems, for at least 4 out of 6!
posted by poorhouse at 2:09 PM on June 21, 2004

Are there other sources for syllabus? I am interested in History course descriptions and text/biography lists.
posted by stbalbach at 2:42 PM on June 21, 2004

One course that should be fun, educational and accessible is Developing Musical Structures. The software and abbreviated textbook are freely available online. You can buy the full book on Amazon for $10.
posted by Gyan at 3:03 PM on June 21, 2004

I clicked in just to see everybody bitch about the double posting. (FWIW, I think it's a supercool - thanks for the link!)
posted by mtstover at 3:05 PM on June 21, 2004

Welcome to two years ago.
posted by u.n. owen at 3:17 PM on June 21, 2004

Fairly disappointing overall. I was expecting much more in the way of class notes for all classes. Syllabi are worthless; if you have the text, you can just read the table of contents.
posted by mischief at 4:38 PM on June 21, 2004

stbalbach: You're not missing much in the History department here, at least. If you want to browse the relevant classes, you might try looking at the course listings for 21H (history) or STS (science, technology, and society). Some of the courses list a Course URL in the information that will usually have an online syllabus and other good stuff.

Some of it might also be linked from the department websites (21H, STS).

The usefulness of OCW definitely depends on the type of learner that you are, the type of material given on the site (some of them are actually very, very comprehensive, right down to having the texts online), and the additional materials available in your physical location. It is also interesting to note that OCW seems to have made other professors aware of the availability of the materials they post on the internet. Many of the courses that are not on OCW have now moved off the web to a closed by-authentication-only system for MIT students only. This is totally incompatible with the ideals of open academics, and makes it difficult even for students to browse potential courses or courses they had been involved in.

It is also worth noting that much of OCW was outsourced, despite the huge talent base found at MIT and in the local area.
posted by whatzit at 4:47 PM on June 21, 2004

blah. Make that "by-authentication-only system for registered students only."
posted by whatzit at 4:48 PM on June 21, 2004