Read the article at http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/global/05_Prog_Eval_Report_Final.pdf
Background
In 2005 MIT produced an evaluation of the access, use and impact of OpenCourseWare Findings were drawn from web analytics, surveys and interviews of OCW users, MIT faculty, students and alumni.
Key Points
- MIT reports dramatic growth in access (56% annual increase) on the original site as well as to mirror sites around the world. OCW materials are being distributed offline (printed and digital copies) and have gained a broad international audience. Visitors are generally happy with the file formats that courseware is provided in.
- OCW is used by educators students and self learners for many purposes. Many faculty who contribute to OCW feel they have improved their regular courses through the process.
- A great majority of visitors find OCW positives and useful many more universities have initiated projects similar to MIT OCW.
Discussion Questions
- Do you think that access, use, and impact are the most important OCW metrics to evaluate? What metrics would you add?
- What should be done to improve access, use, and impact of OCW?
Additional Resources