Free Education from MIT - Learn Anything!

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MIT offers free access to a wide range of course materials through its OpenCourseWare (OCW) platform, allowing learners to explore subjects from mathematics to linguistics without the need for formal enrollment. While many users express enthusiasm about the availability of these resources, some caution that simply accessing course notes and homework may not equate to a comprehensive learning experience. The platform includes video lectures for certain courses, which can enhance understanding. Users acknowledge the significant cost-saving aspect of free education, especially compared to expensive textbooks. However, opinions vary on the overall value of these materials, with some arguing that they are similar to traditional textbooks and may not provide a distinct advantage in learning. The discussion highlights the importance of free educational resources and their potential for self-directed learning, while also recognizing that they may serve best as supplementary materials rather than complete substitutes for formal education.
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Free education from MIT!

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but MIT have put up a lot of course notes for free access. You just need a pdf reader. Here's the link:

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

It is quite frankly amazing! You can learn anything from maths to linguistics, I still can't quite contain how happy I am to have found this.:approve:
 
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That is really a wonderful link. Thanks for posting it. I no longer care about credits, learning is just for my own enrichment. I already peeked and saw a few that I may take.
 
OCW has been around a few years now. It is a great program but don't delude yourself. There is a lot more to learning the topics than looking at the class notes and homeworks. There are some classes that have video links to them.
 
Yeah right, I've spent the whole day going through stuff and realized its not quite as good as I first thought. Good supplementary info though, and a useful source for textbook references.
 
You need to take a look at this area of OCW:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/OCWHelp/avocw.htm
 
billiards said:
I don't know if this is common knowledge, but MIT have put up a lot of course notes for free access. You just need a pdf reader. Here's the link:

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

It is quite frankly amazing! You can learn anything from maths to linguistics, I still can't quite contain how happy I am to have found this.:approve:

i'm not amazed. universities all over the world put course notes online. gilbert strang (mit math) has even been putting complete videos of his lectures (at least for his matrix heory course) on his page for years now. i don't see what the fuss is all about. how would downloading a course from mit & studying it be better (or even different) from studying a textbook, the same way people have learned stuff for decades, or longer? i guess it's free so it has that advantage but other than that i don't see a difference. maybe it helps people find out what to study as well; some like more direction than others.
 
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I like watching Prof. Walter Lewin's physics lectures. He a really fun and excellent prof to watch(I think he is retired now). Sometimes watching one of his lecture's after studying the same subject for school helps to enrich my understanding of the material.
 
Free makes a giant difference. The last textbook I bought cost $180.00. As refresher courses, it seems perfect.
 
hypatia said:
Free makes a giant difference. The last textbook I bought cost $180.00. As refresher courses, it seems perfect.

the fact that the course materials are free doesn't mean much to me. i haven't bought a brand-new textbook in a long time; i guess i didn't think of that when i put up my other reply. i always get them used through www.abebooks.com, & i would never pay more than about $30-40 for one. what i was referring to when i said free was the tuition, not the textbooks. now that i think about it though, you're right, free course materials would make a huge difference.
 
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