Celebrating 20 years of OpenCourseWare
Heading into OCW’s third decade, we reflect on opening MIT’s teaching and learning resources to the world, and look forward to what’s ahead
“In creating OCW, MIT launched a quiet but profound educational revolution. It unleashed the global open sharing movement, and helped pave the way for the worldwide phenomenon of open digital learning.”
In April 2021, MIT OpenCourseWare celebrated its first 20 years with a virtual birthday card, a retrospective in MIT News, and an online celebration featuring some of the platform’s founders, alongside faculty, staff, and learners from around the world.
No worries if you missed the party–as far as we’re concerned, it never stops. Check out a few video tributes to the organization that launched what would become MIT Open Learning way back in 2001, and find out how you can become a part of what lies ahead.
“OpenCourseWare may seem a bit counterintuitive in a market-driven world. But it really is consistent with what I believe is the very best in MIT–this great service orientation. It’s innovative, it expresses our belief in the way that education can be advanced, by constantly widening access to knowledge and information, and by inspiring others to participate.”
-Charles M. Vest, former President of MIT (1990–2004)
“Very few things become a movement, and a fifth of a century is a pretty good indication that something has become a movement.”
- Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning at MIT
“The truth is that visions are a dime a dozen…What’s important is that you carry through and you make something that’s actually implemented and sustainable. And when I think about what MIT started 20 years ago, the fact that we’re still here, and still producing… is something that makes me enormously proud of MIT.”
-Hal Abelson, OCW co-founder and Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Join us in our continuing quest to provide access to MIT’s teaching and learning resources with the world. Here are a few ways to get involved:
- Take a quick survey to share your experience with us
- Sign up to beta test our new platform, NextGen OCW
- If you can, make a donation to help sustain OCW
