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October 17, 2011

Open Courses For All

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Odd as it may seem, the modern university has not changed a great deal since its earliest instances in the 16th century. A lecturer, classes filled with students, examinations – these essential components of higher education have remained more or less static, while nearly all the other sectors of modern life have undergone immense transformations. Finally, however, technology has sunk its teeth into education, and as a result it appears as though the university’s own technological revolution is close at hand. At the forefront of this rethinking of the college classroom is OpenCourseWare, the digital media format pioneered in 2001 by MIT and used already by more than 100 million students worldwide. By releasing class content online to the public, elite universities are making available to anyone with an Internet connection what used to only be within reach to the most rarified strata of society. This radical democratization of learning is unprecedented in modern society – only time will tell how far it will be able to go.