I’ve wanted to write about this for awhile, but couldn’t figure out how to merge the topic with decorating and design… So I’ve decided to just post about it anyway because I think it’s a great resource to tap into. Especially with so many of you either working in the business world or owning your own business, I’m sure you can find topics that interest you. Anyway, Boston’s own MIT set up MIT OCW, a free and open educational resource for people all over the world who want to pull up a seat and learn. After extensive research on it (including conversations with those who have taken a few OCW courses), I can’t say enough to promote this avenue of learning. It’s great.
Sure, you won’t earn a degree from your studies via OCW, but you will learn about fascinating subjects from some of the best educators on this planet, which is never a bad thing. Whether it’s Anthropology you fancy, Linguistics and Philosophy, or Writing and Humanistic Studies, there is something that appeals to the curiousity of everyone. Some of their writing courses interest me, and Composing Your Life: Exploration of Self through Visual Arts and Writing looks interesting, too.
There are lots of great business courses, and courses on Architecture (including urban planning), and even special programs that may prove helpful to those of you interested in product development, like Prototypes to Products, a course that covers topics from prototyping techniques to materials selection, design-for-manufacturing, field-testing, and project management. There’s even a course on Pricing, a subject on the minds of so many business owners these days.
Visit MIT OCW for more information. But beware: There are lots of details to digest, so give yourself time to browse the site.
(image from mit ocw)
January 30th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Hey Holly,
I was looking at the OCW quite a bit a few days ago and I love it. I was blown away that they are actually doing this. What is interesting to me is how similar the courses are to the ones I took in college. But certainly for anyone looking to just furthur increase their knowledge, the OCW is an incredible resourse.
(BTW, I think you are miscorrectly calling the acronym OSW when it should be OCW)
-Eric.
January 30th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Eric – Great catch! My brain kept thinking open SOURCE not COURSE. :)
Thank you!
January 30th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Wow, thanks for posting. What a great resource! I’m graduating in June, and I have a feeling I’m going to be missing my classes soon enough – I love the fact that OCW is free.
January 31st, 2007 at 12:47 am
wow. thank you so much for the post. this is an unbelievable resource. thanks !
January 31st, 2007 at 2:26 am
As an MIT alum, I can tell you that MIT has a history of open courses. In fact, a little homeless lady from China “took” most of my chemistry courses. She sat in the front row and asked alot of questions and every professor treated her as a regular student, bags and all. We all took her under our wing and helped her with problem sets. I wish I knew where she was now…
January 31st, 2007 at 8:11 am
This is great! Thanks for the link. They have a lot of interesting courses. I only I had more time……
February 4th, 2007 at 2:58 am
Thanks decor8,
I’d like to invite you to visit http://www.collegeyours.com for its Open CourseWare project and your comments.