Spreading Education through OCW

I was pleasantly surprised after reading an article this week on Open Course Ware from Universities such as MIT. I had no idea that Universities were actually sharing their courses for free with the public. I was even more shocked that there were faculty willing to share their materials.

MIT states that “their goal is to educate students… that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21^st century”(see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/AboutOCW/our-story.htm).  The idea is to end educational poverty and provide those that want with an education.  

I think this is a great idea since it provides education to those who may not be able to afford it, or those who enjoy learning and do not necessarily want to go back to school. While this is not a replacement for post-secondary degrees, it is still beneficial. It provides more interest in research and other topics, generates interest in the University for prospective students, and can reach people all over the globe.

After reading the goals of OCW, a quote by Nelson Mandela popped into my mind, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Even though there are some challenges when it comes to OCW, such as the struggle for Universities to get publishers to grant permission to share their materials online for free and funding these sites, I still believe that OCW is an amazing tool that can provide education to those would want it around the world.