> I wish all schools'd put up their classes online for free.
By the way you can thank Hal Abelson* (also known for SCIP, patronage of the FSF, and many other things) for making this happen almost 20 years ago. And “making it happen” was more than just sticking some videos online — which wasn’t even the first thing — but aiming to put all the course material online and encouraging others to use it for their own courses.
It’s particularly striking to me that it was MIT that did this as the institute is notorious for feeling and acting like it considers the educational part of its mission as an annoying distraction.
* Don’t get me wrong — many people were involved. But Hal was IMHO the most instrumental.
>more than just sticking some videos online — which wasn’t even the first thing — but aiming to put all the course material online and encouraging others to use it for their own courses.
Actually putting video (and, for the most part, audio) wasn't even really all that practical when OCW was created. One also suspects that it was an easier sell that OCW was for educators rather than being, in any way, an alternative to taking the courses in-person. OCW was a great innovation though even if it wasn't what a lot of would-be students were looking for. Which ended up being MOOCs that were more directly consumable although still mostly flawed in various ways.
By the way you can thank Hal Abelson* (also known for SCIP, patronage of the FSF, and many other things) for making this happen almost 20 years ago. And “making it happen” was more than just sticking some videos online — which wasn’t even the first thing — but aiming to put all the course material online and encouraging others to use it for their own courses.
It’s particularly striking to me that it was MIT that did this as the institute is notorious for feeling and acting like it considers the educational part of its mission as an annoying distraction.
* Don’t get me wrong — many people were involved. But Hal was IMHO the most instrumental.