The MIT Open Learning Library is home to selected educational content from MIT OpenCourseWare and MITx courses, available for free to anyone in the world at any time.
How MIT Open Learning Library Differs from MIT OpenCourseWare and MITx on edX
You can think of OCW, MITx, and Open Learning Library along a spectrum of learning scenarios, presenting content in different formats to meet different learner needs.
- MITx courses are end-to-end course experiences with optional certificates available for you to earn, live teaching support and interaction with other learners in discussion forums, and start and end dates.
- MIT OpenCourseWare offers a completely self-guided experience with published content from MIT courses that is open all of the time and licensed for download, remix, and reuse, but does not offer certificates nor interaction with teachers and learners.
- MIT Open Learning Library sits in between MITx and OCW. As in many MITx courses, Open Learning Library provides interactive course experiences that include auto-graded assessments that give you instant feedback and allow you to track your progress as you work your way through the subject matter. And like OCW, this content is always open and self-guided and includes no live support, discussion forum, or certificates.
MIT is committed to sharing learning materials with the world. The Open Learning Library provides additional opportunities to learn from MIT at your own pace, engaging with interactive problems and receiving instant feedback.
Interactive Assessments and Progress Tracking
You can view and use all Open Learning Library materials without enrolling (learn more here).
If you want to track your progress through a course, create a free Open Learning Library account, and then enroll in the course. The learning experience will be similar to MITx courses running on edX and MITx Online platforms. However, Open Learning Library does not include discussion forums, certificates, or the ability to transfer your progress to an active MITx course.
Open Learning Library resources designated as OCW content are free to download, remix, and reuse for non-commercial purposes. Resources designated as MITx content have varying licenses: some are All Rights Reserved, others Creative Commons, and some have mixed licenses. You will see the license type indicated on the About Pages.