About OpenCourseWare


MIT OpenCourseWare is a free and open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum and used by millions of learners and educators around the world.


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  • A Community of Open


    "MIT has been my middle school, my high school, my entire education."

    Ahaan Rungta

    Student, USA


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  • A Community of Open


    "Studying in a country where there are political issues going on, such as strikes, drone attacks, target killing, etc., it’s very difficult to study. But thanks to OCW, now I do not have to worry about keeping [up] with the competing world."

    Tooba Siddiqui

    Student, Pakistan


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  • A Community of Open


    "OCW gives rare and high-level knowledge explained in a simple way."

    Akwir Alain

    Self Learner, Democratic Republic of the Congo


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  • A Community of Open


    "Your program really helped me to realize that I was still able to do the same quality of work as I did before the aneurysm and brain surgery."

    Anita Moreno

    Self Learner, USA


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  • A Community of Open


    "OCW provides a chance for the students to get an idea of how it would be when studying abroad."

    Kian Wah Liew

    Malaysia


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OCW Innovations

 

In 1999, MIT Faculty considered how to use the Internet in pursuit of MIT's mission—to advance knowledge and educate students—and in 2000 proposed OCW.

Today, MIT OpenCourseWare is a cornerstone of MIT's ongoing commitment to openly sharing educational resources. OCW continues to grow, with more new and updated courses, more video and interactive resources, and enhancements like OCW Scholar and OCW Educator. As the online options for learners and teachers continue to multiply, the value of MIT OpenCourseWare—free and open materials spanning the entire MIT curriculum—has never been greater.

 

 

OCW Annouced in the New York Times

2001

50 Course Published

2002
 
 

Official OCW Site Launch in October 2003

2003
  • 500 courses published.
     

OCW Adopts Creative Commons License

2004
  • First mirror site established in Africa.
     
  • Other institutions work with MIT to create their own OCWs.
 
 

OCW Wins Over a Dozen Major Awards

2005
  • First updates to previously published courses.
     
  • OCW wins over a dozen major awards.
     
  • OpenCourseWare Consortium formed [renamed
    the Open Education Consortium in 2014].

OCW Highlights is Developed for High
School Secondary Education

2006
  • OCW Consortium meets in Kyoto,
    portal launched.
     
  • 1550 courses published.
 
 

Publication for Virtually all MIT Courses
Completed

2007
  • Highlights for High School is officially launched.
     
  • New monthly traffic record: Over 2 millions visits.

50 Million Visits

2008
  • Audio/Video content added regularly to YouTube and iTunesU.
     
  • Persian translations added.
 
 

225 Mirror Sites Around the World

2009
  • 1 million visits to Highlights for High School.
     
  • 1 million visits from the MIT community.

100 Million Visits Reached

2010
  • 30 Supplemental Resources provide
    videos, online textbooks, and more
    beyond courses.
     
  • 2000 courses published.
 
 

OCW Scholar Courses, Designed for Independent Learners, are Launched

2011
  • OCW celebrates a decade of open sharing.
     
  • MIT launches MITx online courses, expanding its commitment to free global learning.

125 Millions Visits Reached

2012
  • Turkish course translations and Korean
    video translations added.
     
  • MIT's new Office of Digital Learning brings
    together OCW, MITx and other resources.
     
  • OCW website redesigned for better user experience.
 
 

OCW Educator Launched, Providing Insight
on How Courses are Taught at MIT

2013
  • Highlights for High School website redesigned for better user experience.

1 Billion Page Views and 175 Million Visits

2014
  • 100 courses have complete video lectures.
     
  • 900 older versions of courses have been updated.

 

 

OCW Continues to Expand Reach to People Beyond the Site
on How Courses are Taught at MIT

2015
  • More than 432,000 people like or follow OCW on Facebook and Twitter
     
  • More than 52 million iTunesU downloads of OCW audio and video lectures
     
  • More than 2,300 live course sites
     
  • Published the 50th open online textbook
     

OCW Celebrates 15 Years of Open Sharing

2016
  • Thank you for 15 years of open sharing
     
  • Created new About OCW video
     
  • 200 Million visits reached
     
  • More than 1 million OCW YouTube channel subscribers
     
  • More than 100 courses with Instructor Insights
     
  • Added interactive, searchable transcripts to course videos
     
  • Added more context to courses with Crosslinks and the Undergraduate Curriculum Map