MIT consider charging for online lectures

Andy Nguyen

Andy Nguyen

Joined
5/2/06
Messages
12,532
Points
273
Enjoy while it lasts. We may no longer get them for free much longer.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced that it is considering charging for access to online lectures and class notes, which are currently available free on the Web.

Speaking at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Institutional Management in Higher Education conference in Paris this month, Lori Breslow, director of M.I.T.’s Teaching and Learning Laboratory, said that free access “may not be the best economic model, so we are now looking seriously at new e-learning opportunities.”
Click to expand...

Briefly - M.I.T. Weighs Charges for Online Lectures - NYTimes.com
 
Go figure. These days, it's no longer about training people to go into the work force who might become successful and through tax revenue make our country more prosperous.

Even MIT now just sees anyone with a dream as someone to be fleeced.

Sad.
 
If they want to charge then they should keep it to themselves. Many libraries are free, one just has to get up, drive or walk to the library and read.
 
I like this part -

"free access may not be the best economic model"
:-k

I've never wondered over to the MIT site to look at the lectures, so it may be time to head over there and download everything they got.
 
I think that MIT has enough money that they can provide this wonderful social good. Other than server space and bandwidth, what is it really costing them?
 
These (Not just MIT) videos are already all over youtube. Could we expect them to be pulled off that as well?
 
IMO, if they decide to charge, it would be to access their website.
 
It seems the comments of the MIT person speaking at the conference in Paris were blown out of proportion. The official MIT response is here:
Free Online Course Materials | Erroneous Reports of Possible OCW Paywall Appear in News Media | MIT OpenCourseWare

Quote:
The content on MIT OpenCourseWare will continue to be free and available online, as it has always been. Like other universities, MIT is constantly exploring new educational opportunities—including the possibility of e-learning projects—but MIT has no plans to charge for access to MIT OpenCourseWare content.
 
Having been there when MIT initiated OCW, and having posted a course there myself, I would have been very surprised had they EVER wanted to monetize it. It would just be so contrary the spirit of Open Course Ware :)
 
I have not seen that page in a while ;)

Nice find, Hildingur!
 
Back
Top Bottom