Recently, MIT announced that it was going to have all course materials on the web? Although the press release (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/ocw.html) makes this sound as something new, I don't think it is new. Here's why:
1. Most material for courses has been available for years on the web. MIT has lead the way for using the web for courses. I previously attended UMASS Lowell and most classes are only starting to use the web for class distribution and discussion. It has been that way at MIT for a while. So what is new with this announcement?
2. Does the announcement mean you can get an education for free from MIT? I think not. First of all, if you have ever decided to "listen" to class, you most likely do not do all the work. If you don't do the work, you usually don't learn. Secondly, there is still nothing like face-to-face contact with the MIT professors. I have often tried to download course materials to learn the material that way and it is often disconnected and confusiong. You need to have the class.
Perhaps the announcement is more philosophical than anything else. The intellectual matter at MIT has always been "open" by definition of being an eductaional institution.
It just goes to show that source code is not the only thing that is "open" these days - the concept can apply to many other areas - such as education, hardware, etc.
C
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I found the OCW to be very interesting as well. I think MIT has mislabeled it as a long term solution for distance learning. There are many companies out there right now that are taking courses, whether it be their own or a partner university and putting them on the web and calling that distance education. To me that is just an extension of a piece of paper. Distance education is much more than that. What is not being addressed is the discussion that you get between the faculty and the other students. That is what is hard to replicate over the web. I think MIT is thinking about leading in the innovative education area but they can't stop with OCW. To me the long term solution is to find a way to replicate the classroom discussions in a synchronous manner.
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In my view the core of a university is its ability to engage its students in a learning dialogue. Making learning material available online in this way, is nothing more than unlocking the doors of a library.
Christine says "You need to have the class." What you need is to be able to start up a dialogue, either being internal or with external entities. Sitting in the midst of a great library does neither.
The value of MITs openness as a gesture should however not be underestimated. It goes to show that MIT has an opinion that knowledge is a common good. but again, unlocking the library doors makes no doctor.
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Anonymous
-
2001-05-04
Open source is great in this ever expanding world where technology and science is reaching new frontiers everyday. THe MIT endevour into an open source project is merely a start to more bigger and better libraries of infromation provided by all the universities in this world in the future. Tought it is a great idea there are still people out there who shot down the hype saying it would not materialize and more bad news, but personnaly i think no other university can match the profile and take a project this size and this important other than MIT. THis course material should be used as a reference along with other form of innovative learning to educate students. Critical learning such as interactive disccusions, group project and pioneering project will benefit greatly from this open course ware.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Recently, MIT announced that it was going to have all course materials on the web? Although the press release (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/ocw.html) makes this sound as something new, I don't think it is new. Here's why:
1. Most material for courses has been available for years on the web. MIT has lead the way for using the web for courses. I previously attended UMASS Lowell and most classes are only starting to use the web for class distribution and discussion. It has been that way at MIT for a while. So what is new with this announcement?
2. Does the announcement mean you can get an education for free from MIT? I think not. First of all, if you have ever decided to "listen" to class, you most likely do not do all the work. If you don't do the work, you usually don't learn. Secondly, there is still nothing like face-to-face contact with the MIT professors. I have often tried to download course materials to learn the material that way and it is often disconnected and confusiong. You need to have the class.
Perhaps the announcement is more philosophical than anything else. The intellectual matter at MIT has always been "open" by definition of being an eductaional institution.
It just goes to show that source code is not the only thing that is "open" these days - the concept can apply to many other areas - such as education, hardware, etc.
C
I found the OCW to be very interesting as well. I think MIT has mislabeled it as a long term solution for distance learning. There are many companies out there right now that are taking courses, whether it be their own or a partner university and putting them on the web and calling that distance education. To me that is just an extension of a piece of paper. Distance education is much more than that. What is not being addressed is the discussion that you get between the faculty and the other students. That is what is hard to replicate over the web. I think MIT is thinking about leading in the innovative education area but they can't stop with OCW. To me the long term solution is to find a way to replicate the classroom discussions in a synchronous manner.
In my view the core of a university is its ability to engage its students in a learning dialogue. Making learning material available online in this way, is nothing more than unlocking the doors of a library.
Christine says "You need to have the class." What you need is to be able to start up a dialogue, either being internal or with external entities. Sitting in the midst of a great library does neither.
The value of MITs openness as a gesture should however not be underestimated. It goes to show that MIT has an opinion that knowledge is a common good. but again, unlocking the library doors makes no doctor.
Open source is great in this ever expanding world where technology and science is reaching new frontiers everyday. THe MIT endevour into an open source project is merely a start to more bigger and better libraries of infromation provided by all the universities in this world in the future. Tought it is a great idea there are still people out there who shot down the hype saying it would not materialize and more bad news, but personnaly i think no other university can match the profile and take a project this size and this important other than MIT. THis course material should be used as a reference along with other form of innovative learning to educate students. Critical learning such as interactive disccusions, group project and pioneering project will benefit greatly from this open course ware.