Volume 121 >> Issue 29 : Wednesday, July 11, 2001

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OpenCourseWare Receives Funding From Mellon, Hewlett Foundations

STAFF REPORTER

The first phase of OpenCourseWare is underway. With financial contributions from two foundations totaling $11 million, an interim management committee is setting up an infrastructure for the online initiative.

The Andrew W. Mellon and William and Flora Hewlett Foundations have each donated $5.5 million for the pilot phase of the program, a project that intends to place 500 courses online in 27 months at a cost of $12 million.

OpenCourseWare will make MIT material such as course outlines, lecture notes, assignments, and handouts available on the Internet. It is designed to benefit both the MIT community and people around the world.

“We’re obviously pleased that [the foundations] are enlightened and interested in the benefits such a project can bring,” Dean for Undergraduate Education Robert P. Redwine said of the foundations.

Greater access to course material may aid students and faculty. Students will be able to access all of the material associated with the course they are taking at any time and have more access to information about courses they are considering. And it may be easier for faculty to get their material out to their students and see what other professors are doing in related subjects.

The project’s offerings are not intended as a replacement for classes, and no credit or degrees will be granted through OpenCourseWare. Associate Dean of Engineering Dick K. P. Yue ‘74 describes the project as “not a door; more like a window” for those outside MIT.

Yue was instrumental in the creation of OpenCourseWare, together with Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Steven R. Lerman ‘72 and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Harold Abelson PhD ‘73.

“OpenCourseWare, in some sense, is a way for MIT in particular, but the modern higher education [in general], not to fall into this area where educational content is viewed in a monetary way,” Yue said.

Victoria K. Anderson ‘02, outgoing chair of the Student Committee on Educational Policies, expressed support for OpenCourseWare.

“Our consensus from this past semester is that if MIT is going to spend time and money on this, it should benefit students in some way,” Anderson said. “We believe that in the current proposed format, OpenCourseWare will benefit the students, as we will have increased access to information, the ability to better ‘shop’ classes before the semester starts, and a chance to remain part of the scholarly community at MIT after we graduate.”

MIT is expected to follow the key recommendations that a task force recently submitted. Headed by Yue, the task force suggests that a professional, centralized organization administer OpenCourseWare. An executive director, ideally an outside professional with management and administration background, would head the project, and report to a faculty director, like an Associate Provost.

Another task force recommendation involves making OpenCourseWare centralized but with “strong relationships” to departments and schools. Liaisons would be assigned to each but will not be independent of the central organization.

An interim management committee, responsible for the search and hire of the executive director and other top managers, is in place. The committee, which is eyeing top information technology executives, should complete its hiring within several months.

Other responsibilities of the interim committee include coordinating communication, both internally and externally, and exploring possible partnerships or relationships.

“Since the announcement of OpenCourseWare, there has been lots of interest in working with us,” Yue said.

Reactions within the MIT community have been mostly positive, despite reservations about the effect on the education of students at MIT. Some questioned whether it would devalue the MIT education and take faculty and staff time away from students.

“I think it’s a really good idea,” Kelly N. Zimmerman ‘04 said. “It’s with good intentions, but I’m also curious as to what is going to happen to the current MIT students. Why bother to pay the $30,000 when you can get it for free?” Zimmerman is the new chair of the Student Committee on Educational Policies.

Redwine fends off suggestions that the MIT education will in any way be devalued.

“The essence of [an MIT education] is what happens on campus, working together with faculty and each other. What would people think if we charged them our tuition and sent them a large box of books? In some ways, OpenCourseWare is analogous to that box of books,” he said.

Many look to the introductory computer science class, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (6.001), to see what OpenCourseWare will be like. The course Web page features lectures, lecture slides, problem sets, projects, the textbook, and all course information.

Meredith L. Gerber ‘04, a 6.001 student this past semester, believes putting material for more classes online “would be really helpful. I wouldn’t have to carry around x-pounds of books. I could just find an Athena terminal.”

Redwine agrees, saying, “We hope and expect this will make it possible for all or almost all to have that sort of material. The truth is I don’t think anyone knows how positive of an effect that will have.”

He also acknowledges that faculty time is a concern.

“I think that is the most important thing in terms of making it work is to help the faculty put this on the Web and keep it updated. In many ways the most precious quality here is faculty time, and there are only 24 hours in a day.”

The Mellon Foundation, formed in 1969 by consolidating two foundations started by the children of Andrew W. Mellon, is known for its support of higher education. Other areas of funding include cultural and performing arts, population, conservation, and the environment and public affairs.

“There are quite a few grants we’ve made in recent history that have to do with higher education and technology,” Associate Program Officer of the Mellon Foundation Saul Fisher said. “OpenCourseWare is the latest and greatest in this line.”

The Hewlett Foundation, founded in 1966 by William R. Hewlett and family, also funds many educational ventures. Its funding emphasis is on performing arts, population issues, the environment, conflict resolution, family and community development, and US-Latin American relations.

“We think it’s an important experiment with the way universities deal with their intellectual property,” President of the Hewlett Foundation Paul Brest said. “What this will look like ten or twenty years from now ... who knows? But we think this is a very promising direction.”

Many find that benefits to those outside MIT are the true reason for the project. Yue believes that many faculty support the project in part because it “appeals to the moral higher ground” by forgoing any attempts to commercialize on the information.

“If MIT sets a good standard and model of how to do it, other people will follow,” Yue said. “Then we will have truly changed the landscape.”