Seven years ago MIT did something extraordinary and if you haven't heard about it you really should. And you should tell everyone you know.

They put the majority of their audio, visual and class lecture coursework online. Free. For all of us to use. Yes, the same information their students get in class, now direct to our home computers to use as a resource, reference and for personal and professional enrichment. Why? Well read farther down for a message from the President.

The courses cover everything from Architecture to Music to Women's Studies. It's a virtual treasure trove that can be utilized by almost every field. So enjoy and poke around the site. I think it's one of the greatest gifts available online. And free, to boot.

Oh, and they have a companion site geared to high school students.

___________________
From the President:
full text: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocw.html

"As president of MIT, I have come to expect top-level innovative and intellectually entrepreneurial ideas from the MIT community. When we established the Council on Educational Technology at MIT, we charged a sub-group with coming up with a project that reached beyond our campus classrooms.

"I have to tell you that we went into this expecting that something creative, cutting-edge and challenging would emerge. And, frankly, we also expected that it would be something based on a revenue-producing model -- a project or program that took into account the power of the Internet and its potential for new applications in education.

"OpenCourseWare is not exactly what I had expected. It is not what many people may have expected. But it is typical of our faculty to come up with something as bold and innovative as this, " President Vest commented.

"OpenCourseWare looks counter-intuitive in a market driven world. It goes against the grain of current material values. But it really is consistent with what I believe is the best about MIT. It is innovative. It expresses our belief in the way education can be advanced -- by constantly widening access to information and by inspiring others to participate," said President Vest.

"Simply put, OpenCourseWare is a natural marriage of American higher education and the capabilities of the World Wide Web," he said.

this is absolutely great.... if i had time to actually do this, id watch everything and finally feel smart!!! wooohoooo, i went to MIT bitches!!!!!
(or kinda......)