This is completely unrelated to Linux in any way, but is something that has
some personal meaning for me.  BBC News is reporting that MIT is working
towards putting all of the courseware on the web, for free.

"Like almost every organisation in the US, the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology spent the late 1990s struggling with the question of how to take
advantage of the internet.

"Many other colleges launched online degree courses aimed at anyone with a
modem and a big wallet.

"But MIT has taken a completely different direction with a project called
OpenCourseWare (OCW) that could stop the trend of commercialising online
education dead in its tracks.

"The first group of courses are set to be published on the internet on 30
September, including subjects like anthropology, biology, chemistry and
computer science.

"'I genuinely think there was an 'a-ha' moment when they said our mission
was actually to enhance education,' said Anne Margulies, Executive Director
of OCW.

"'Why don't we, instead of trying to sell our knowledge over the internet,
just give it away.'

"Over the next 10 years, MIT will move all its existing coursework on to the
internet."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2270648.stm


Mark Post

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