Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced the restart of its online courses. The purpose of the program MITx - to make education more affordable, even for those who did not use the instruction "Theory and Practice" on how to enroll in this college.
MITx final run in the spring - it will be an interactive learning platform, in which it is possible to organize the course material so much to learn at their own pace. The creators of the program emphasize that this is not a lite version of basic training: MITx includes online laboratories, the possibility of communication between a student and an individual assessment of student work. Graduates of courses will be given a certificate of completion MITx.
One of the most popular videos of those that are posted on the official channel of MIT, is devoted to the introduction of computer science and programming.
The program is designed not only to those who have not yet enrolled in college - MITx organizers are hoping that online learning will expand the educational experience of students from the campus through tools that complement and enrich their studies in laboratories and classrooms. The second goal - to form a virtual community of MIT students around the world.
For this initiative responds to L. Rafael Reif rector, head of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the same time and Sciences. According to his plan of development of this area should be combined with the scientific study of on-line learning opportunities, which will be conducted by the Institute: "Many members of the MIT began experimenting with the integration of on-line tools in the system of classical university education on campus. We will promote these experiments, many of which will lead to new and unconventional technology education students from other cities and countries. Both parts of this project are extremely important for the future of high-quality, affordable and accessible education. "
Online courses developed on the platform MIT OpenCourseWare - a free resource, which includes almost all the educational material's undergraduate and graduate MIT. It nearly 2100 courses MIT, enjoyed by over 100 million people: including programs in mathematics, physics and computer science, medical and nuclear research, in engineering and even in architecture, management, history and gender studies. Each course includes lecture notes, bibliography, questions for the exam and contacts the professor.
MIT President Susan Hokfild believes that anyone who is willing and able to engage in the program MIT, should have the opportunity to participate in the best educational experiment, which allow you to make internet technology: "The success of the OpenCourseWare indicates a high demand for courses at MIT and inspires us to ensure that to make content more accessible. Now we are developing new approaches to online learning. "
Education in MITx will be free. Universities and schools can use the same software as part of their education goals.
Director of the Laboratory of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Anant Agarwal thinks that the creation of infrastructure for uncovered learning communities will allow other developers to contribute to the development of "open infrastructure will facilitate research in educational technology, as well as allow easy transfer of learning content to another educational platform. If the infrastructure to use and adapt, it will only get better. " Agarwal himself has spearheaded the development of this educational platform.
Three other university with a strong online program:
Stanford University
C in February 2012 can enroll in courses at Stanford University on machine learning, computational linguistics, or the theory of games. Each of the courses is conveniently organized: there is a detailed basement matter what background you must have to do, how to communicate with lecturers and how best to plan your time for studying.
University of Berkeley
UC Berkeley has made a selection of the best courses, including archival records, and classes this semester, which begins this spring. Courses are presented in the form of video lectures. There are lessons in astronomy, earth sciences, statistics, and media studies.
Yale
Yale University has prepared a record of the most interesting courses in video and audio versions. After downloading a course, you can learn the basics of fundamental physics, studies of capitalism and even the philosophy of death.
