OCWs

OCWs

A. What is OCW?  

An OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a free and open digital publication of high quality college and university‐level educational materials.  These materials are organized as courses, and often include course planning materials and evaluation tools as well as thematic content.

OpenCourseWare are free and openly licensed, accessible to anyone, anytime via the internet.  

B. Some popular OCWs by universities
 

Academic Behemoths

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology — MIT has what many consider to be the most extensive open courseware collection in the country, it also happened to be the first from a major university. Covering subjects ranging from architecture and planning to humanities and science, this catalog has an amazing amount of information.
2. Carnegie Mellon — This fantastic university has a rich tradition of academic excellence. With its “open learning initiative,” the goal to give everyone an opportunity to learn is certainly being met.
3. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health — Johns Hopkins is one of the premier institutions in the world. While their course offerings are limited to the health space, the sheer amount of knowledge and expertise available make this collection one of the best.
4. Stanford University — Via iTunes, this prestigious university offers students a great number of courses to choose from.
5. University of Notre Dame — ND is considered by many to be one of the best schools in the country, if not the world. With open courseware offerings in subjects such as history, English, and math, anyone can benefit from this fantastic school of knowledge.
6. Duke Law Center for the Public Domain — Duke University is counted amongst the best schools in the South. If you’re interested in law, Duke’s open courseware in that subject area can go a long way towards helping you learn more about the justice system. 
    

7. Harvard Medical School — Although its courses are restricted to the medical profession, they are a great resource for someone looking for Ivy League information. Harvard offers courses ranging from biological topics to medical and business topics.
8. Princeton University Channel — This Ivy League school has an entire channel created around guest lectures. You can watch academic juggernaughts weigh in on various topics, from the contempory, to the mundane.
9. Yale University — This wonderful Ivy League institution has a great number of ivy-quality open course classes available for all. Topics covered range from history and literature to math and science. 
    

10. UC Davis — Another University of California entry has a wide variety of courses in its extensive catalog. Some of the topics covered include science, engineering, and mathematics.
11. University of Washington — UW is an excellent university based in the western United States. Course offerings cover subjects from science to math and English
12. University of California, Irvine — Another University of California school with a great number of course offerings. Courses in everything from business to the biological sciences are available online.
13. The University of California at Berkeley — UC Berkeley sports an exciting collection of webcasts that cover topics such as biology, computer science, economics, and much more.
14. University of Utah — U Moodle (the name of this school’s open courseware collection) contains a huge amount of information. History, English, Teaching, and Pharmacotherapy are just a few of the many subjects covered in this collection.
15. Utah State University — The course offerings of Utah State are wide ranged, with everything from first year Chinese to Cultural Anthropology covered. Students can benefit from this great institutions knowledge base.
16. College of Eastern Utah — The motto for this Utah school is, “Together, we reach.” This could mean a lot of things, but primarily it means that with their open courseware offerings, they can help persons reach a new level of knowledge.
17. Utah Valley State College — Yet another Utah-based school makes our list. Subjects covered here include accounting, biology, English, and engineering. 
     

18. Tufts University — Based in Boston, Massachusetts, this well-regarded institution offers a plethora of open courseware. Topics covered include, agricultural studies, biological studies, genetics, and much more.
19. University of Massachusetts, Boston — UMass, Boston offers open courseware for a range of subjects including biology, mathematics, and nursing.
20. Boston College Front Row — Boston College is an excellent institution with a rich history. To this end, its podcast lecture offerings are an excellent resource for a large amount of far-reaching topics.
21. Classics Podcasts: Haverford College — If you are interested in the classics, and you don’t mind listening to Podcasts, then Haverford College’s offerings are the perfect solution for you. You can learn about classic literature while you are on the go. 
     

22. University of Michigan — Michigan is widely regarded as one of the best “Public Ivys” and so its open courseware offerings should be highly regarded as well.
23. Purdue University — Interested persons can certainly benefit from the wide variety of topics covered in these course offerings.
24. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania — You may not have heard about Kutztown, but it’s a fantastic town with a fantastic university. Its open courseware offerings are focused heavily on business. In this rough economic climate, it’s good to have more knowledge than your competitors.
25. Michigan State University — The Spartans have joined the growing open courseware initiative. Michigan State offers many different courses in a range of topics that are fantastic for someone interested in learning more about important academic areas. 
     

26. Oxford University Text Archive — Oxford University is one of the oldest, most respected, universities in all of England. The sheer age of Oxford, and its resources, makes this text archive a fantastic academic temple for interested persons.
27. Greshem College — This UK-based college has a solid open courseware offering when it comes to music. Europe is where some of the most influential music in history was created, so utilizing a European school’s resources is clearly a wise decision.
28. Glasgow University — This UK-based university has several course offerings in the arts. For students interested in an international perspective, it’s definitely a good start.
29. University of Surrey — Another UK based university offering an extensive course catalog, with a focus on English and the Classics.
30. University of Nottingham — This university has a rich history, and it’s open courseware offerings reflect that history. Benefitting from these offerings is excellent for anyone interested in them.
31. Cambridge University Podcasts — Cambridge University is one of the premier institutions in the world. To this end, its podcast offerings make its wealth of information available to persons all around the world, which is of course, a great thing. 
     

32. University of Tokyo — One of the top universities in Japan has joined the ever-growing sect of schools with open courseware offerings. The University of Tokyo offers online lectures covering everything from business to psychology.
33. University of Southern Queensland — This highly-regarded Australian university offers a variety of free courses in subjects including, technology, general science, and more.
34. Universidad Nacional De Colombia — Although this web site is entirely in Spanish, it still has plenty of great information to offer. You may just need someone to translate for you.
35. University of Hong Kong Architecture Courses — Another international entry to our list is the University of Hong Kong. Since this course offering is solely focused on architecture, it is definitely one of the single best place to go for solid, and free, information about the field.
36. United Nations University — You may have never heard of this school, but its open courseware offerings are the stuff of legends. Some of the subjects covered include electronic governance, and biodiversity. 
     

37. Wikiversity — Wikiversity is a wide-reaching project designed to provide a plethora of open courseware information to persons around the world. This open courseware covers almost every topic imaginable, and is growing.
38. The Open University — This university’s sole purpose is to provide students with free information and study materials online. With this in mind, persons are encouraged to learn at their own pace and form independent study groups via forums.
39. Western Governors University — WGU has a significant online course offering in the area of Liberal Arts. The value of a liberal arts education is still significant, so taking advantage of these course offerings is an excellent decision.
40. Trump University — If you are interested in learning more about Business and Entrepreneurship, then this courseware collection is perfect for you.
41. Capilano College — Although this college is not as well known outside of an open courseware setting, it still has fantastic stores of information for anyone interested in learning more without having to pay traditional brick and mortar fees.
42. News University — If you are interested in the press, or writing in general, then open courseware offerings from this university are worth a look.
43. E-zine University — E-zine University’s focus is providing persons with free and easily understood information about writing. If you’re interested in becoming published, than this is a fantastic resource. 
     

44. Delft University of Technology — Although this university is not as well known as some of the others on this list, its courseware offerings in the subject of technology are excellent for someone looking to learn more about everything from engineering to programming.
45. Weber State University — If you’re interested in learning more about English, health, and automotive mechanics, than check out some of these fantastic courses offered by WSU.
46. Monterey Institute for Technology and Education — Monterey California is sunny and beautiful, so it’s no mystery that a sunny and beautiful technology education could be offered in open courseware form from a school based there.
47. VTC University — VTC University has an excellent offering of courses on technology. Specifically, computer software training, and basic programming for persons just beginning to get into the tech space.
48. Berklee Shares — For those who are interested in music, Berklee Shares has a great amount of resources for free that can help you learn how to play an instrument, or improve your talents in something you’re already playing.
49. Western Kentucky University — WKU has a variety of free podcasts about many different academic topics. You can listen to interesting lectures about history and mathematics while you’re on the go.
50. Wheelock College — This college is rather small, and unknown, but its resources are unparalleled. It’s open courseware catalog includes a huge amount of information of use to many.

 

C. Some popular OCWs by majors

1. HKU Architecture: Hong Kong University shares a range of courses on architecture, many dealing with sustainability and green architecture, in this OCW project.
2. MIT Architecture: Head to the architecture department at MIT for some high quality courses on the subject.
3. NYU Architecture in New York: Explore the neighborhoods of New York with some help from this tool created by NYU.

5. LSE Event Transcripts: Get transcripts from lectures and events at the London School of Economics from 1999 up until the present day.
6. Professional Education, Testing, and Certification Organization International: PEOI has hundreds of courses in the works, but currently only offers a handful in business and economics topics.
7. SBA Learning Center: The Small Business Association offers loads of resources for budding entrepreneurs on their site, including courses, videos, and texts on business.
8. Sloan School of Management OCW: MIT isn’t just a great place to learn about STEM; the school’s OCW project also offers a wealth of courses in business and economics.
9. The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA: Those working in nonprofits, or who hope to, should take advantage of the learning modules here. They’re designed to help with management, fundraising, taxes, and leadership in the nonprofit sector.

1. Electrical Engineering: Professor James Svoboda of Clarkson University’s courses in “Electrical Science,” “Linear Circuits,” and “Instrumentation” can be found here.
2. engAPPLETS: This Java-based project provides access to modules for learning about fluid dynamics, statics, and dynamics.
3. Engineering Graphics: Here, you’ll find notes, games, quizzes and more from Professor Stephen Crown that will help you engineer graphics for the Web.
4. Gerald Recktenwald’s Teaching Page: Visit this site to see what engineering professor Gerald Recktenwald is teaching this semester. You’ll also get inks to helpful study and professional resources as well as being able to follow along with the readings and information presented in his courses.
5. METU OCW: The Middle East Technical University offers a wide range of free courses in English for those who want to learn more about engineering. Other topics are covered as well, from anthropology to game technology.
6. MIT Engineering: MIT has one of the best engineering programs in the world and you can learn more from professors at the school through free engineering courses. You’re linked to the aerospace engineering project here, but there are also courses available in every other engineering program MIT offers.
7. NC Learning Object Repository: North Carolina’s LOR has a large open course library which includes great offerings like “Engineering Physics.”
8. NPTEL: India’s National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning provides free access to numerous courses, the vast majority of them on engineering topics.
9. Nuclear Engineering: Former professor Bill Garland shares his expertise on the subject of nuclear engineering through this amazing collection of resources.
10. Stanford Engineering Everywhere: Stanford’s free program in engineering offers up courses in computer science, AI, linear systems, and computer engineering.
11. TU Delft OCW: The Delft University of Technology shares numerous resources in engineering and computer science (in English) that range from topics like biomedical engineering to sustainable development.
12. University of Memphis Civil Engineering: Learn the basics of civil engineering measurements from the course materials provided by U Memphis here.

1. Energy + Environment OCW: Here, you can find OCW resources focused on energy sources and environmental science.
2. Environmental, Earth, and Ocean Sciences UMB: UMass Boston’s OCW project offers a lot of different courses, but a large number, 12 in all, are in the Environmental, Earth, and Ocean Sciences.
3. FAO Corporate Document Repository: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN’s Corporate Document Repository is an excellent source of reading materials related to environmental issues that impact food safety, energy, and wildlife preservation.
4. Tulane Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences: Stephen A. Nelson from Tulane offers access to six courses he has taught at the school over the past few years, from mineralogy to petrology.
5. United Nations Online Learning: While not limited strictly to environmental issues, the bulk of the courses offered for free by the UN do touch on environmental science.

1. Art, Metaphor, and Life: Take advantage of a free course from Sauk Valley Community College on this site, though it’s also home to an amazing list of resources for learning about all things arts and humanities.
2. BBC Sing: Want to learn how to sing? The BBC has brought together a wealth of tutorials and videos to help you belt it out with the best of them.
3. Berklee Shares: The Berklee College of Music offers up a number of free music lessons online that can help budding musicians and vocalists hone their skills.
4. MIT Music and Theater Arts: Explore musical structures, harmony, hip hop, playwriting, lighting design and a host of other fine art topics through MIT’s OCW project.
5. Studio Art at Capiliano: While Capiliano’s OCW project is hardly limited to art alone, it’s noteworthy for being one of the only to offer studio art course materials.
6. Yale History of Art: Yale offers free courses in art history, though currently there is only one available, covering Roman Architecture.

1. Center for the Study of the Public Domain: Here, you can listen to dozens of lectures on copyright and public domain, watch videos, read articles, and even see bigger projects done by CSPD.
2. Lewis & Clark Law School Webcasts: Get career help, explore exciting topics, and hear from practicing lawyers and professors in this lecture series.
3. Multimedia HLS: Harvard Law School offers a great collection of videos related to legal topics.
4. American University Washington College of Law Podcasts: Need a little law-related listening material? Head to this site to access podcasts on legal topics related to U.S. law and beyond.

1. Berkeley Journalism: Berkeley’s webcasts include a number of lectures and courses on journalism that explore topics like food writing and The Wire.
2. MIT writing and Humanistic Studies: Explore numerous writing courses at MIT that will help you to address controversial topics, write strong essays, and even use new media.
3. Poynter News University: Poynter offers aspiring journalists and writers a chance to improve their skills through free online classes that cover a wide range of topics.
4. Purdue OWL: You won’t find many amazing tools for improving your writing like those at Purdue. The college has extensive educational materials for everyone from professional writers to those who are non-native speakers.
5. VCCS Litonline: Students can find a huge repository of free learning materials for studying literature online through this award-winning collection.
6. The Writing University Podcast: The University of Iowa’s prestigious Writer’s Workshop offers up some useful podcasts on writing and literature here.

1. Duke Mathematics Department: Find useful links, reading lists, and course syllabi on this prestigious college’s math department site.
2. MathVideos.net: Stephen Toner, a mathematics professor at Victor Valley College, provides loads of learning tools for algebra, statistics, and calculus here.
3. MSRI Math Lectures: Hear from some of the most brilliant minds in mathematics in these lectures from the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
4. MyOpenMath: With five free math textbooks and counting, this site is a great place to go for a free education in everything from pre-algebra to calculus.
5. SIGMA Maths Support Centre: Need a little help with your math? Here, you’ll find support for rotating assortment of math topics. Right now, free videos are available to teach you how to use matrices.
6. Video Calculus: Created by Selwyn Hollis as the University of Houston, this site is home to 55 videos on the basics of calculus.

1. JHSPH OCW: Johns Hopkins, one of the most prestigious medical schools in the U.S., offers dozens of free courses from its public health program.
2. Open Michigan Medical: The OCW project at the University of Michigan includes a huge collection of medical courses and resources.
3. Tufts OCW: Visitors to the Tufts OCW collection will find free material from the School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the School of Veterinary Medicine.
4. Harvard Medical School OCI: Want to learn like a student at Harvard Medical School? Head to this collection to find resources related to topics like chemical biology, osteoporosis, and more.
5. Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology: These resources, focused on health technology, are the result of a cooperative project between MIT and Harvard.

1. Academic Earth Science: Academic Earth is packed with great educational videos, including those in computer science, chemistry, biology, and physics.
2. AMSER: The Applied Math and Science Repository is full of resources that students, teachers, and professionals can use to improve their knowledge and skills.
3. The Biology Project: Check out the Biology Project for helpful problem sets, activities, reading materials, games, and other resources on biology topics.
4. ChemEd: Take advantage of some great chemistry learning modules when you visit this resource-laden site.
5. comPADRE: The physics and astronomy education communities worked together to build this great network of online resources for students and teachers interested in either, or both, fields.
6. Field Techniques: Find course notes, exercises, and a reading list that will boost your field techniques in geography.
7. HippoCampus: HippoCampus is home to free courses, videos, and tutorials in math, science, and social science.
8. iLumina: iLumina is a digital library of undergraduate teaching materials for STEM topics, including courses, images, videos, lectures, and more.
9. Links for Palaeobotanists: Study ancient plants in your spare time with the help of dozens of links of the subject found on the University of Würzburg’s site.
10. Matthias Tomczak’s Oceanography Website: Those interested in expanding their knowledge about oceanography can head to this site to explore lecture notes, exercises, and PDF books.
11. Merlot Science and Technology: MERLOT, or Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, is home to thousands of articles on science and technology topics.
12. MIT School of Science: Biology, cognitive sciences, chemistry, Earth science, mathematics, and physics are all part of the science collection at MIT.
13. Modern Physics: Take advantage of dozens of lectures on physics topics, like general relativity and atomic spectra, through this great collection.
14. OLI Courses: The Open Learning Initiative is home to 18 free courses. While some are in language and writing, the majority address STEM areas.
15. Physical Chemistry Lecture Notes: Colby College offers up lecture notes on courses in quantum mechanics, spectroscopy, reaction dynamics, and more.
16. Plant Biology: Head to this University of Maryland site to get access to hundreds of resources on plant biology.
17. SciTalks: Listen to some brilliant scientists talk about science and technology topics through this collection of lectures.
18. UIUC Plant Biology: Take advantage of course materials and articles for dozens of botany and plant biology courses courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
19. VisionLearning: VisionLearning is an open library of learning modules on a wide range of science topics including biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science.
20. Visual Quantum Mechanics: Kansas State University’s physics department offers up an assortment of resources designed to help non-science students learn more about the fundamentals of quantum mechanics.

1. Conversations with History: The University of California Berkeley offers learners access to more than 500 lectures on history and political topics from some of the most well-known academics in America.
2. Notre Dame Sociology: While OCW at Notre Dame is fairly expansive, there’s an excellent collection of sociology courses to choose from. You can also find courses in anthropology, Middle Eastern studies, and more.
3. NYU Open Education: From a social history of New York to statistical lessons for behavioral sciences, NYU offers a great collection of open learning resources in the social sciences.
4. Open NH: The state of New Hampshire has brought together a number of self-paced tutorials, courses, and collaborative spaces on it’s Open NH website that touch on social studies, education, and literacy.
5. OpenUW: The University of Washington’s open educational site is an amazing place to find courses on literature and history.
6. SALMON Psychology: Professor Paul Kenyon pulled together this great collection of resources for learning and studying psychology.
7. UMSL Sociology: Here, you’ll find a collection of course materials from Robert O. Keel, a professor of sociology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
8. UNCW Sociology and Criminal Justice: Take a look at sociology from a criminal justice point of view with some help from Jammie Price at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

1. ADUni: While the ArsDigita program is no longer going on, learners can still take advantage of the course resources used.
2. Coursera: Coursera, one of the most notable purveyors of MOOCs, offers numerous courses in technology from leading professors at Stanford, Columbia, and Georgia Tech.
3. edX: If you enjoy MIT’s OCW collection, then check out the school’s online course collaboration with Harvard, boasting dozens of free online courses in everything from biology to artificial intelligence.
4. Free Courseware Project Information Systems: The University of the Western Cape makes it easy to take courses in Information Systems with offerings addressing Java and PHP programming.
5. Google Course Builder: Tired of just taking online courses? Why not make your own? Google makes it possible by providing the code to power online courses.
6. Oxford Internet Institute: Webcasts from the University of Oxford can educate on all things Internet-related.
7. Paris Tech: Paris Tech might be located in France, but the open resources it offers for learning, including courses in programming, computer architecture, and computer science, are in English.
8. Sofia: On Sofia, learners can take courses on Flash, Webpage authoring, network security, and Java programming.
9. Tokyo Tech: The Tokyo Institute of Technology is a smart place to look for free educational resources on technology. Currently, the site houses notes from 164 courses and 16 video recordings.
10. Udacity: Another high-profile MOOC provider, Udacity offers hi-tech courses in topics like Web development, game development, and AI.
11. W3 Schools: If you’re aiming to learn how to program, visit this site for tutorials in every kind of programming language used today.
12. Wolfram Demonstrations Project: Head to Wolfram’s Demonstration Project to use interactive tools that help explain a wide range of technology and science principles.