OpenCourseWare (OCW) refers to academic course materials created by universities that are shared freely on the Internet as digital publications. The OCW movement in the U.S was started by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and now many other schools and companies have caught on.
OnlineCollegeCourses.com has published an infographic that covers detailed information related to OCW’s programs, mission, goals and its impact on education.
MIT’s OpenCourseWare, the flagship institution of the OCW movement, is a large-scale web-based publication of MIT undergraduate and graduate-level course material that is free and openly available online. It began in April 2001, and has since had 131 Million downloads by 93 Million visitors.
Besides MIT, other universities and institutions also offer OCW programs. You can find the list of those institutions as well as info regarding the OCW they provide students with.
How OCW has changed the Education:
The Following are the functions of OCW:
Creating the mold
Going global
Democratizing high-quality education
Allowing customization
Encouraging sharing
Empowering educators
Providing valuable content
Enabling lifelong learning
Reinforcing the college experience
Demonstrating the need for more
Individuals accessing OCW:
Educators: 9%
Students: 42%
Self-Learners: 43%
Others: 6%
Here is the infographic: