A beginner’s guide to open learning at MIT

Discover free resources from MIT’s open education platforms and programs.

By Katherine Ouellette

Are you looking to expand your knowledge or develop new skills? MIT Open Learning offers free educational resources available to anyone across the globe. In this guide, we introduce you to the world of open learning at MIT so that you can get started on your learning journey — whether you’re a beginner looking to explore a new topic or an enthusiast hoping to delve deeper into specific subjects.

What is open learning?

Open learning refers to the concept of making educational resources freely available to learners across the globe, embracing principles of accessibility, inclusivity, and lifelong learning. MIT has been a pioneer in open learning, championing the dissemination of knowledge beyond the traditional classroom.

What is MIT Open Learning?

MIT Open Learning is home to open education platforms, such as MIT OpenCourseWare and MITx, and programs like Day of AI. The mission of Open Learning is to transform teaching and learning at MIT and around the globe through the innovative use of digital technologies.

“What we’re trying to do is take the knowledge we create here and think about how we then use it to meet challenges in the world,” Eric Grimson, MIT’s interim Vice President for Open Learning and Chancellor for Academic Advancement at MIT, said in an interview. “We want to take what we know about a field, what we know about how to teach, what we know about the science of learning and get it out there so that it improves things around the world.”

What’s in the catalog?

MIT OpenCourseWare and MITx offer thousands of online courses taught by the Institute’s faculty spanning the MIT undergraduate and graduate curricula — from machine learning and philosophy to chemistry and gender studies. Here are a some ways you can get started on your learning journey:

• Introductory undergraduate courses
• Best undergraduate and graduate courses according to QS World University Rankings
• Top ranked graduate courses according to U.S. News and World Report
• Most popular online courses of all time
• Unexpected undergraduate courses

What is MIT OpenCourseWare?

Launched over 20 years ago, MIT OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses. Anyone can learn from notable MIT faculty who are Nobel Prize winners, National Academy of Sciences members, and more. With OpenCourseWare’s Mirror Site program, more than 440 hard drives containing free copies of content have been distributed to worldwide educational organizations with limited or costly Internet access. And because it’s Creative Commons licensed, anyone can download, remix, and carry these materials with them, wherever they go.

What is MITx?

MITx has developed more than 250 free online courses. MITx applies the MIT motto “mens et manus” or “mind and hand” to create hands-on learning experiences. The courses are free to audit. Learners can also get an optional certificate for a small fee.

Certain MITx courses are part of the MITx MicroMasters Programs, where credential earners can advance in their professional careers or apply for accelerated master’s degree programs at MIT and other pathway schools. Individual MicroMasters courses range from $200 to $1,000, and the cost for the entire credential ranges from $850 to $5,000.

What is Day of AI?

Day of AI offers a full school day’s worth of curriculum and activities for elementary, middle school, and high school students. The program is completely free and accessible to students and teachers of all backgrounds and abilities. MIT RAISE designed the materials so that no prior technology or coding experience is needed.

What can I do with these courses and programs?

Millions of learners have leveraged MIT Open Learning’s free resources in their education and their careers.

• High schooler Dustin Liang used the calculus learned through MITx to better understand his cancer treatment.
• After learning computer programming from MITx and MIT OpenCourseWare, another teenager was inspired to teach other kids how to code at his local library.
• Chansa Kabwe used MIT OpenCourseWare to follow MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science curriculum — and became a machine learning engineer.
• Students in Turkey created their own PhD-level research curriculum with MIT OpenCourseWare to coincide with their medical school studies.
• Middle and high school students in Massachusetts who learned from the Day of AI curricula were able to discuss the human rights and data policy implications of AI.

Learn more about MIT Open Learning and its open education platforms and programs.

A beginner’s guide to open learning at MIT was originally published in MIT Open Learning on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.