I heard about this a few weeks ago, on the radio. Might have been from Paul Harvey or something. BTW, there is no credit, either, I noticed.
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General discussion
Free courses
Diana
Discussion is locked
9 Posts
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...... have offered the opportunity to audit some courses. for quite some time. No credit for those, either. (I don't know if they are free of charge.)
Seems like a good idea for those who just want to expand or update their knowledge.
Angeline
Speakeasy Moderator
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I audited a course to refresh my memory on it. There was a fee, though maybe not as much as for a credit course. It's been awhile, so I'm not clear on that.
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the student body. That means the basic registration fees, which are not nominal these days, even at public schools. What you (usually) avoid paying are the $$$-per-credit-hour fees. Note also that, as implied by the name, you shouldn't expect access to the professor. (You can hear him, but not talk/question back. And you don't get your assignments graded or commented upon.) Same with this MIT thing, EXCEPT there are no fees at all. And a hands-on course (science, musical instrument, culinary) may not be worth the time at all.
Still, I see many good things in this.
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Diana, Beside the program that you mentioned, there is also a course called SPLASH. Open to all MA students in K7-12 at MIT during the summer months.
Wonderful program. My son went through it and contributed back his senior year by working in the SPLASH program to help other students.
The program is taught by graduate students of MIT.
My son aced his math in the National Honor Society because of SPLASH.
The program is only for grade school and high school. Not adults.
However in MA there is free tuition to any state university if you are over sixty years old.
Kind of neat. Grim and I have talked of this before.
I may be going back to collage for free next year in MA. Not to late for an old dog to learn more tricks.
I only have forty five years in advertising experience. Maybe I will teach a course or two in Advertising and Design for UMASS also.
-Kevin
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FYI, the FAQ:
"Frequently Asked Questions
How long will it take to download a course?
MIT OCW course .ZIP files range in size from 1MB to over 100MB. The majority are 25MB-30MB. Be aware that it can take a while for a .ZIP file to download. The download time will depend upon your connection speed (e.g., modem vs. DSL or cable).
Why are some materials such as video lectures or media simulations missing from the .ZIP file?
Some materials, such as videos, java applets, and other special content that is not posted on the MIT OCW server, is linked to rather than included in the .ZIP file. You may view the entire MIT OCW course site by clicking on the course homepage in the .ZIP file. To download MIT OCW videos to your desktop, please read the FAQ on the MIT OCW Web site.
Who do I contact if I have a problem downloading a course?
Send an email to the MIT OCW Team via our Feedback Form or ocw@mit.edu."
IOW what MIT has done is make all this stuff available, for free, do with it what we will. A useful way to use it IMO is to get together with like-minded friend(s) and discuss the material with each other. That helps make up for the lack of live faculty. The classical method was to have the teacher guide a discussion of relevant questions s/he asked, so much of that could be duplicated in that way.
I'm glad you reminded me of this, Diana; I may just download a history course next time I'm at school with a Zip disk or SanDisk. BTW the reading lists for these courses should be impressive and helpful.
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