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LAST Tuesday, May 29, I called for the lowering of
tuitions of private schools, particularly Ateneo and La Salle, and
state-run UP. This is because what they are offering at very
exorbitant rates is available on the Internet for free, from
prestigious universities in the US.
I also found out that at least
eight major Japanese universities, including the University of
Tokyo, offer courses for free, on the Internet. In China, more than
200 universities provide Internet access to their courses and
libraries.
What then is the point in the
Philippines of paying a fortune for the cost of educating yourself
when you can educate yourself via the Internet for free? E-learning
is the 21st-century equivalent of Andres Bonifacio reading under the
mango tree in the moonlight.
In the US, MIT has the best
course offering among universities that provide open access to their
courses and libraries. MIT offers a mind-boggling array of 1,550
courses. It has been doing so since 2002.
MIT is very happy with the
results of its intellectual philanthropy or OpenCourseWare (OCW).
Half of those using MIT OCW are self-learners, educating themselves.
More than half of these self-learners want to enhance their
knowledge.
About 8.5 million visited MIT’s
content last year, a 56-percent annual increase.
Over 350 courses are translated
with 70 mirror sites globally. MIT’s courses are widely
distributed offline to secondary audiences.
About 18 percent of visitors
distribute copies of OCW material to others; 46 percent of educators
reuse site contents; of those, 30 percent give students printed
copies, 24 percent provide digital copies.
OCW is accessed by a broadly
international population of educators and learners.
About 61 percent of OCW traffic
is non-US; East Asia, 22 percent; Western Europe, 15 percent; South
Asia, 6 percent; Latin America, 5 percent; other regions, 13
percent.
Around 49 percent of visitors are
self-learners, 32 percent students, 16 percent educators.
Visits most often begin on the
site directly and average 9.2 page views.
About 37 percent of visits are
direct traffic, 26 percent come via search engines, 21 percent from
MIT’s website, 16 percent other referrers.
Visits average 9.2 page views; 29
percent include 5 or more and 6 percent include more than 25.
Visitors are largely satisfied
with the file formats for OCW print and video content, but would
prefer more options.
About 98 percent of visitors find
PDF suitable, and 26 percent prefer it; other formats requested
include MS Office (36 percent) and HTML (16 percent); 82 percent of
visitors to video pages are satisfied with RealMedia; 66 percent
prefer to download rather than stream
OCW use is centered on subjects
for which MIT is a recognized leader—engineering, math,
management, physics and economics. Two of three go to these courses.
The OCW site is being
successfully used by educators, students and self-learners for wide
range of purposes.
Educator uses: planning a course
(26 percent), preparing to teach a class (22 percent), enhancing
personal knowledge (19 percent).
Student uses: complementing a
course (38 percent), enhancing personal knowledge (34 percent),
planning course of study (16 percent).
Self-learner uses: enhancing
personal knowledge (56 percent), keeping current in field (16
percent), planning future study (14 percent); 41 percent are
completely successful; 51 percent are somewhat successful.
Nearly half of educators visiting
the site have reused site content, and most expect to do so in the
future.
About 46 percent of educators
have adopted or adapted site content; 92 percent plan to in the
future; 62 percent combine OCW materials with other content; 38
percent adapt course syllabi; 26 percent adapt assignments or exams.
Visitors consider site materials
to be up-to-date and are largely satisfied with site content
breadth, depth and quality.
About 97 percent of visitors
agree that OCW materials are up to date; 93 percent of visitors are
satisfied with site breadth; 87 percent are satisfied with depth of
courses; 91 percent are satisfied with the quality.
The OCW site is widely used by
the MIT community and is a significant influence on prospective
students; 71 percent of students, 59 percent of faculty and 42
percent of alumni use the site.
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