Our History

In 1999, MIT Faculty considered how to use the Internet in pursuit of MIT's mission—to advance knowledge and educate students—and in 2000 proposed OCW. MIT published the first proof-of-concept site in 2002, containing 50 courses. By November 2007, OCW completed the initial publication of virtually the entire MIT curriculum, over 1,800 courses in 33 academic disciplines.

View video of the MIT OpenCourseWare Milestone Celebration held on November 28, 2007, marking the completion of the initial publication. 

Today, MIT OpenCourseWare is a cornerstone of MIT’s ongoing commitment to openly sharing educational resources. OCW continues to grow, with more new and updated courses, more video and interactive resources, and enhancements like OCW Scholar and OCW Educator. As the online options for learners and teachers continue to multiply, the value of MIT OpenCourseWare—free and open materials spanning the entire MIT curriculum—has never been greater.

2001
  • OCW announced in The New York Times.

2002
  • 50 courses published
  • Proof-of-concept site.
  • First language translations added, in Spanish and Portuguese.

2003
  • 500 courses published
  • Official OCW site launch in October 2003.
  • Chinese translations added.

2004
  • 900 courses published
  • OCW adopts Creative Commons license.
  • Other institutions work with MIT to create their own OCWs.
  • First mirror site established in Africa.

2005
  • 1250 courses published
  • First updates to previously published courses.
  • OCW wins over a dozen major awards.
  • OpenCourseWare Consortium formed [renamed the Open Education Consortium in 2014].

2006
  • 1550 courses published
  • OCW Consortium meets in Kyoto, portal launched.
  • OCW Highlights for High School concept developed for secondary education.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012
  • 2150 courses published
  • Turkish course translations and Korean video translations added.
  • 125 million visits reached.
  • MIT’s new Office of Digital Learning brings together OCW, MITx, and other resources.

2013
  • OCW Educator launched, providing insight on how courses are taught at MIT.
  • OCW and Highlights for High School websites redesigned for better user experience.

2014
  • 2250 courses published
  • 1 billion page views and 170 million visits.
  • 100 courses have complete video lectures.
  • 900 older versions of courses have been updated.