The Massachusetts Institute of ­Technology (MIT) to take its courses to the world

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"The Massachusetts Institute of ­Technology (MIT) is preparing to ­disrupt the prevailing global model of higher education with a massive ­expansion of its online courses which it would sell to other universities through licence agreements." reports Education editor Tim Dodd.

Photo: The Australian Financial Review

A new internal report has also urged MIT to “engage in bold experiments” with its undergraduate program to ensure the university continues to be a world leader “at a time of ­disruptive change”.

The report, titled Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT ­Education, said MIT academic staff had identified 300 courses that would be suitable for transforming into online learning.

A key part of the plan is to leverage off MIT’s reputation for prestige and ­quality and market the courses under the MITx brand, which is already used to offer MIT material as massive open online courses (MOOCs).

The report envisages the MITx online courses would be used – both by MIT and by other universities – in place of lectures.

This so called “blended learning” approach allows students to spend time, which would otherwise be used in lectures, in group work and ­discussion under the guidance of an instructor to give them a deeper ­understanding of the material.
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Source: The Australian Financial Review