OpenCourseWares are open access collections of educational materials used in formal courses. In 2001, MIT launched the OpenCourseWare Initiative (http://ocw.mit.edu/)-a program that makes educational materials for 2,000 MIT courses available on the Web, available to anyone anywhere free of charge. In launching and delivering on this visionary initiative, MIT has set the stage to enable universities all over the world to extend the reach and opportunities afforded by teaching and learning to the world at large.

There are now over 50 universities worldwide offering OpenCourseWares.  There are OpenCourseWare projects at Johns Hopkins University, Utah State University, and schools in Japan, China, and the Netherlands.  There is growing momentum among higher education institutions to participate in this “open” movement.  Through opencourseware projects, universities can share and contribute their knowledge and expertise in an open and easily accessible manner.