In a letter to Congress that requested information about the role of MIT endowment, MIT President Rafael Reif –in the picture above– offers detailed answers and highlights that “our mission charges us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on great challenges, for the betterment of humankind”, and “as we strive to serve the nation and the world, our endowment is crucial fuel.”
In this context, Rafael Reif refers to the edX initiative in these terms:
“In May 2012, we collaborated with Harvard University to launch an online learning destination and MOOC provider called edX. As the only leading MOOC provider that is both nonprofit and open source, edX serves as a platform on which dozens of global universities host their MOOCs. To date, edX has delivered nearly 900 courses to seven million unique users, and counts among its partners more than 90 leading global universities, nonprofits and institutions — including Princeton University, the Smithsonian, Harvey Mudd College and Amnesty International.”
Additionally, MIT president mentions the MITx open source educational tool, as well as the OpenCourseWare (OCW) website, that offers, free of charge, all MIT course content, including videos, syllabi, simulations, lecture notes and exams –2,260 courses with 175 million learners in total.
