Open Educational Resources

             

     
       Open Educational Resources (OER) are free or low-cost educational resources available online for people to do research, professional development or share knowledge. MIT announced that it starts to provide an OER called Open Course Ware for students, professors or individual learners to access free course materials. In addition to MIT, there are more than 200 universities in the world offer OER. As I read the article, I feel so grateful for this movement because it not only promotes the spontaneous learning but also helps people worldwide access to education in high quality. I would imagine people in poverty can find a way to learn in a group.  Females who are not allowed to go to school in the certain areas are becoming free to learn. Moreover, individual learners like me who seek professional development or skills training opportunities will have the chance to communicate and learn with the best professors.

           Actually, before Open Course Ware, I took courses from Edx, another popular Open Education Resources platform. A lot of top rank universities on Edx dedicated to providing high-quality education for people who want to learn. Before taking Edx, I was wondering what is the education in MIT looks like? What an "online course" look like? After trying feel courses on Edx, I appreciate for educators who share their knowledge on this public learning platform without the intention of earning money. Even though OER are free, the quality of the course is still guaranteed.

        Here is the interface of Edx. Joining Edx, you can access tons of courses. You can watch the video, join the discussion, complete the task. You even can earn a certificate ( which is not free). These Open Educational Resources definitely create a new hope and future for learners. Here is the link to Edx. Check it out!