Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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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, MIT completed the initial publication of virtually the entire curriculum, over 1,800 courses in 33 academic disciplines. Going forward, the OCW team is updating existing courses and adding new content and services to the site.

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

2001	OCW announced in The New York Times.
2002	50 courses published Pilot version goes live with 50 courses. Spanish and Portuguese translations added.
2003	500 courses published Official 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 OCW begins updating previously published courses. OCW wins over a dozen major awards. OpenCourseWare Consortium formed.
2006	1550 courses published OCW Consortium meets in Kyoto, portal launched. OCW Secondary Education concept developed. Thai translations added.
2007	1800 courses published New monthly traffic record set: over 2 million visits. Publication of virtually all MIT courses completed. Highlights for High School launched.
2008	Audio/video content added regularly to YouTube and iTunes U. Course images added regularly to flickr. Persian translations added. 50 million visits.
2009	1950 courses published 225 mirror sites around the world. 1 million visits to Highlights for High School. 1 million visits from the MIT community.
2010	2000 courses published Course Champions program launched. 100 million visits Supplemental Resources section provides 30 complete educational materials