Free Education from MIT Open Courseware

It would be redundant to mention the impact that technology has had on mankind. But telling you how it made my dream come true is certainly not redundant – not to me at least!

You see as a young man, I dreamed of pursuing higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s best. And being a frequent honor student in high school, the dream was not farfetched but a real possibiltiy.
But then the war came and my parents lost everything! Yet all was not lost! Years later, as a graduate student, I found myself, along with my classmates, using syllabi, lecture notes and projects from the MIT FREE OF CHARGE, even though I was not a student of that prestigious institution. Not only did we share educational materials, we were able to engage in intellectual discussions with students of that institution as well. This not only gave us a taste of an MIT education, but the understanding that a student from a Florida university can be as equally smart and educated as an MIT student.
All this was made possible by MIT OpenCourseWare, the topic of today’s article. I feel that as Liberia strives to improve its educational system, a resource such as the MIT OCW should be utilized for the improvement of higher education in Liberia. In the following paragraphs, I shall discuss the MIT OCW initiative as well as how the concept can be injected in Liberian academia. It is my hope that leaders in that sector will consider the OCW initiative as a supplement to their current pedagogical approaches. Before I proceed, here’s the link to MIT OCW: http://OCW.MIT.EDU.

MIT OpenCourseWare (or OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. This is a result of the MIT faculty’s passionate belief in its mission, which is based on the philosophy that open dissemination of knowledge and information can open new doors to the powerful benefits of education for humanity around the world. It offers free and open access to educational materials from MIT undergraduate and graduate courses, spanning 33 of MIT’s academic disciplines and all five of its schools including: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Engineering, School of Science, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and the Sloan School of Management. It is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT initiative.

MIT OCW offers free publication of MIT course materials that reflect almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at the institution. Yet, there are a few things about MIT OCW that potential users need to know. The first thing that users need to know is that OCW is not an MIT education! This means using these resources does not necessarily make you a student of MIT. The second thing you need to know is that MIT OCW does not grant degrees or certificates to those who use its resources. While you get an opportunity to utilize the resources that are available at MIT, you are not a student of the institution and therefore, you are not entitled to a certificate, diploma, or degree. The third thing you need to know is that using MIT OCW does not give you access to the faculty of MIT. Remember, you are only benefiting from the academic resources used at MIT. The fourth and final thing you need to know about MIT OCW is that materials provided may not reflect the entirety of course content taught at MIT. There may be materials that professors or the institution chooses not to make available.

But be that as it may, you are still allowed access to a huge amount of the resources used at one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of learning. As I mentioned earlier, I personally benefitted from OCW during my first graduate program (MS- Computer Information Technology). I took two classes (Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering) without purchasing the required textbook. Not only were the books too expensive, my professors used an unorthodox pedagogical approach during those semesters. Instead of doing regular work (theory), we were assigned real-life cases and projects. We were told to refer to several books including our assigned textbook, but we never used it as was required by the curriculum. According to one of my professors, cases in the textbook were “antiquated” in today’s world of information technology. But the approach used by MIT professors did not only give us real-world experiences, they also encouraged a new approach (at that time it was new) to problem-solving method known as peer collaboration. This method involved a diverse group of students from colleges in the United States, Europe, and India working on a particular project that was aimed at innovating new processes and improving existing ones. The end result, in this case, was usually a product or idea that large companies could adapt for further improvement through research and development and that consumers could ultimately use. The approach was unique and the results were great!

In Liberian academia, (universities and other higher institution of learning), MIT OCW can do wonders, especially since most of the students struggle to get textbooks and other resources needed for their studies. These institutions should explore this option and use it to supplement their existing pedagogical approaches. Other universities around the world have taken advantage of the opportunity to use materials from MIT.

Recently, the American University in Cairo signed a partnership agreement with the MIT to host and administer an MIT OCW site. The university encouraged its faculty, students and researchers to benefit from and make use of the online course materials available on their site. The materials on their site cover both graduate and undergraduate levels and include access to course syllabi, lecture notes, slide presentations, assignments and other interactive lectures using several multimedia kits used at MIT. Other countries such as Ghana, Cameron, Iran, India, Congo, Algeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and our next door neighbor- the Ivory Coast are also partners of MIT OCW. This should be emulated by universities in Liberia to help supplement their current instructional approaches since we continue to experience financial strangulations.

Using MIT OCW at a university in Liberia requires creative approaches since the country is still in the infant stages of technology infusion in education.

My first suggestion would be a reiteration of what I suggested above, which is to emulate those countries that have partnered with MIT OCW. In partnering with MIT OCW, higher institutions in Liberia will have the opportunity to run their own servers and be responsible for some of the tasks involved in publications. They will also be responsible for the delivery of materials to students and researchers. This would be a better way to go because it keeps the college in close contact with OCW. Alternatively, universities could invest in large printers or photocopy machines that could be used to print materials from MIT OCW to distribute to students, free of charge for course work. If institutions choose to print the materials, they could charge a nominal fee, or some other arrangement could be made to cover printing costs. Other than that, any attempt to sell these materials to students will, in my opinion, be a full scale assault on education because they are the intellectual works of others being provided free of charge. But the overall goal is to use OCW materials as a supplement to existing resources. This will allow students to gain access to updated educational materials.
The alternative would be to provide computers with Internet access to students to allow them direct access to OCW. ICT and Computer institutions that may be struggling for up-to-date instructional materials will now have access to MIT OCW materials as well. This will allow them to provide better curricula. Now while OCW does not provide the practical training that is required for some ICT coursework, some of the courses offered can be used to broaden students’ knowledge of information and communications technology. The following are a few courses provided by MIT OCW that I would recommend to “Computer Schools” in Liberia:

• Introduction to Computer Science and Programming

• Introduction to Software Engineering in Java
• Principals of Digital Communications
• programming languages
• Principles of Computer Systems
• Network and Computer Security
• Introduction to Copyright Law
• Introduction to Technology and Policy
• Communications and Information Policy
• Database Systems
• network systems and more.

These are just a few courses that are offered by OCW and that I believe can be offered at computer schools in Liberia. I would place more emphasis on computer programming and software engineering because as we move ahead, programming and software design skills will be greatly needed. Engaging in software development at this time would be the best way to prepare Liberia for the 21st century information highway which, according to Bill Gates, will rely on software overwhelmingly!

On the other hand, business schools should also take advantage of this opportunity by using materials from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. For example, a management program in Liberia could incorporate the following courses from MIT OCW:

• Operations Management

• Economic Analysis for business decisions
• People and Organizations
• Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting
• managerial psychology
• Integrating eSystems and Global Information Systems, and so on.

All of these materials are available through MIT OCW, and free of charge. I strongly encourage institutions in Liberia to take advantage of this by all means.

Although the use of resources from MIT OCW does not necessarily level the playing field between a student of computer science in the United States and a student of computer science at the University of Liberia, it does, however, give the University of Liberia’s student a slight competitive edge when put in a global setting. There is much that needs to be done to bring the quality of education in Liberia up to standards to compete with other schools that are part of the global setting. But to get to where we want to be, we have to consider even the most infinitesimal contribution to the improvement of education.

As I always say, Liberians will have to be creative and find innovative ways of solving difficult problems. The use of MIT OCW is a creative solution to improving education in Liberian academia. It is obvious that this sector needs to be reformed; and reforming this sector must include information and communication technology (ICT). Liberia will have to invest significantly in ICT because it is in fact, the very vehicle that will take us into the global “digital” economy. Liberia has ordinary people who have the capacity to do extraordinary things. When given the resources, they will prepare themselves and their country for the future that beckons ahead. It is my hope that those in leadership in Liberian academia take MIT OCW into consideration and use it to help educate our brothers and sisters who are eager to learn and bring development to their country.

Incidentally, students at higher institutions of learning, especially students at the University of Liberia must not only rely solely on their professors for knowledge (in fact no student should do so). They must engage in personal endeavors that can help expand their horizons in their chosen academic pursuits. The Liberian notion of, “when I get the job, my special assistant will take care”; will no longer work in the global environment. Students must understand that the education they garner from higher institutions of learning is what they will carry into the global setting. Failure to do good and honest work while in school will simply make you an “uneducated person with an education.” This is how my late father referred to individuals who graduate from college but do not have the capacity to engage into any intellectual discourse that relates to what they claimed to have studied in school. If for some reason your university is not able to provide up-to-date materials and resources for your classes, you should take the initiative and explore other options. Remember, we’ve got the Internet these days; and while I understand that Liberia is still struggling with its infrastructure, there are Internet cafes and other means of accessing the Internet for scholarly materials.

I know that times are hard, and many university students do not have jobs to support themselves as well as their families. I fully understand this! I once empathized with a student who wanted to quit school because according to him, life’s burden was to “heavy” for him. I told him that while in college, I experienced long days and tiresome nights; that the burden of my family always rested upon my shoulders; that the thought of quitting often occurred to me; but I always believed that higher education would best help me serve my family, and someday, my country. Let’s take advantage of MIT OCW and support the education pursuit of Liberia’s future leaders. Let them pursue education with hope – the hope of a prosperous Liberia!