The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has opened registration for its first MITx online courses. The program allows alternative certification with informal online learning. Registration is free and open to anyone, anywhere in the world. What’s better, there’s no additional charge to get the certification after completing the first prototype class.
The first class being offered is “Circuits and Electronics”. It’ll run March 5 through June 8, 2012 and will be taught by MIT professors. The course website says the class will involve about 10 hours a week for students. The class will be made up of video lectures, demonstrations, homework and an online interactive lab.
Right now the course will rely on an honor system, but plans are in the works to eventually develop a system for checking students’ identities and stopping plagiarism and cheating. Artificial intelligence software will do all the grading.
What makes this program stand out from similar online programs is that MITx will be part of the larger university curriculum and tied into its other online learning initiatives.
For more information visit the MITx website.
Also see MIT Opencourseware.
Written by Travis Thompson