Free College Courses Feed Global Hunger for Learning
In 2002, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) started to make course content available free online, project organizers surely had no idea that their site would become a favorite destination for science junkies (上瘾者)across the globe. They posted lecture outlines and other materials primarily as a resource for fellow educators. But a whopping 55% of the 750,000 monthly visitors come from the ranks of "independent learners’ who simply want the knowledge that once required a student ID. "Our biggest surprise was the great number of independent learners," says Steve Carson, external relations director for MIT Open Course Ware (ocw. mit. edu). "It demonstrates that there is the unsatisfied hunger for learning that’s out there."
Independent learners are reaping a harvest of new, free opportunities with the purpose of either brushing up on skills or pursuing an education that had always been out of reach before. Through those that are known as "open courseware", anyone that has the Internet access can freely tap materials from about 5,000 courses at more than 150 colleges and universities around the world.
Resources from physics to family finance
The resource base is expanding quickly. Last year, Utah became the first state which has publicly funded open courseware by establishing the Utah Open Course Ware Alliance, which provides a lot of materials from seven institutions. Last fall, Yale University launched the first seven in a planned collection of nearly 30 open courses, all of which involve complete sets of videotaped lectures (open. yale. edu). And Apple’s iTunes U website enables the free access to audio and video of lectures supplied by dozens of schools. Through open courseware, Yale’s "Fundamentals of Physics" and "Modem Poetry" are as accessible as Utah State University’s "Family Finance" and "Vegetable Gardening and Lawn Care". Those education scholars see the vast potential. "In this way, independent learners might use course materials to fill in gaps in their educations and save a lot of time because experts have packaged a wealth of information for them", says Janette Hill, an associate professor of instructional technology at the University of Georgia.
Take it or give it
The open courseware has really excited a lot of people; at the same time, it also is raising some questions, such as how much interaction is necessary to make learning successful. "Do you believe that it is really enough just to have the information" Hill asks. "The power of learning occurs in some kind of discussion forum where people can share ideas with each other about what they’ve been reading, what they’ve been listening to. and extend that to each other."
Users truly have many reasons for dabbling in open courseware, which, unlike those online degree programs, doesn’t offer any course credits. Those sanitation (卫生设施) engineers in developing countries sometimes need technical know-how, Carson says, so they’ll try to seek out an MIT engineering course. The Alumni and parents monitor courses at the University of Notre Dame site to stay in touch with intellectual life on campus, says Terri Bays, project director for Notre Dame Open Course Ware.
Some people are even charting a discount path to obtain a degree. Shirley Thomas of Owings Mills, Md. , says she wants to pursue a new career after her 27 years in nursing, but she’s not sure yet what she can take to study. Finally came her solution: Test the waters by studying international economics through USU’s open courseware. Later she hopes to get credit through the College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). which allows test takers to earn college credit for what they have already known. "Don’t feel like sitting in a classroom after working a 12-hour shift." Thomas says. "It is extremely important for me to be able to take classes for free, especially since I haven’t decided which degree I really intend to pursue. ’
Others, however, have become frustrated because they have to spend a lot of time sorting through piles of materials without any guidance from experts or sounding board for questions. Sy-year-old retiree Diana Hatfield Bixby browsed MIT’s open courseware from her home in Palouse, Idaho, but she soon try to give up because of the absence of any back-and-forth communication. "What I’d like to have is one-on-one with people responding to e-mail. (but) there’s no way I could afford online education, which involves paying some tuition (学费) ", Hatfield-Bixby says. "With this type of open courseware program, there shouldn’t be any lack of education. But how one is expected to achieve that knowledge has to be clearer, more defined and less intimidating."
More important than just a degree
As open courseware matures, its forms begin to vary as widely as its content. Notre Dame’s "Introduction to Philosophy" for instance, supplements a reading list with lecture outlines. "Introduction to Non-violence", another open courseware at the University of California-Berkeley, involves watching 28 lectures on YouTube.
Not everyone prefers multimedia platforms. In Indonesia, limited bandwidth (带宽)means it’s easier to download static files than to deal with streaming video or audio. Because many materials from MIT and USU don’t require multimedia platforms, teachers across Indonesia are able to access them and benefit, even though they’re not studying for credit. "Learning materials and process are much more important here than just getting a degree," says Ferry Haris. a computer programmer for the Indonesian government, "especially when books are very costly for most of ns here."
As more institutions supply open courseware, those independent learners, who might not be MIT-level whiz kids, will find that subjects are presented on a more accessible level, according to David Wiley, director of the Center for Open Sustainable Learning at USU. MIT has led the way, but now that MIT has made all of its 1,800 courses available, organizers there will be glad to see others catching up. "We’re losing market share by the day," Carson says, "and that’s really exciting." Utah Open Course Ware Alliance has provided materials for 30 courses in a planned collection.