Party with us like it's 2001.

In John's March Newsletter

Youâre invited! Join us in celebrating 20 years

A graphic with burgundy background and orange and white font reads: "You're invited! MIT OpenCourseWare Turns 20. April 7, 2021 12 pm ET"

Friends of MIT OpenCourseWare,

This April marks the 20th anniversary of OCW. For two decades, youâve learned with us, shared your stories with us, shared our resources with others, tuned in to course videos and podcast conversations, connected with our online community, donated, and helped us make OCW even better for you and your fellow learners.

Through your support, your trust, and your engagement with OCW, youâve become caretakers of the vision that began in 2001 to share knowledge from MIT openly and freely. Thanks to your commitment and curiosity, we are able to mark 20 years of open sharing with an even more ambitious vision for the future of OCW as we work to develop the NextGen OCW platform and program.

In short, itâs taken a community to bring OCW to this moment. We want you to be part of the celebrations! Over the next few weeks, weâre inviting OCW learners, fans, and contributors near and far to reflect on this journey and help us get ready for what comes nextâall leading up to a live virtual celebration of OCWâs impact, community, and the future of open sharing on Wednesday, April 7 at 12 pm ET.

> Read the complete article

Seeing the Big Picture from Space with Astronaut Jeff Hoffman

Jeff Hoffman, looking to the right. A bookshelf and a computer screen, with the American flag waving, is seen in the background. Hoffman is wearing an astronaut jumpsuit with patches on both breasts.

In this episode of Chalk Radio, Astronaut Jeff Hoffman talks space, perspective, and teaching aerospace engineering at MIT (photo by MIT OpenCourseWare).

Over the years, Sarah Hansen has interviewed the creator of the âWomen of NASAâ mini-figure series as well as a professor of astronautics and former deputy administrator of NASA. Now, for the first time, she interviews an actual astronaut, Jeff Hoffman, who teaches aerospace engineering and systems engineering at MIT.

In this episode, Prof. Hoffman describes his experiences in space and how oneâs understanding of the world is changed by seeing it from the outside, as a finite sphere, with our seemingly boundless sky revealed as just a thin layer of breathable atmosphere.

> Read the complete article

Recently on the "Community" tab of our YouTube page, every Friday we've been highlighting an OCW video. Here are a few favorites.

Professor Jonathan Gruber explains supply and demand, market equilibrium, consumer theory, and more in 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics.

From our friends at MIT Bootcamps, check out the MIT Global Innovators E-Seminar series, featuring MIT-trained entrepreneurs, innovators and change makers who are solving challenges through new venture creation and corporate innovation initiatives.

A statue of the 18-meter-tall giant robot, Gundam, from the popular Japanese TV series "Mobile Suit Gundam." Purple sky in the background with pink clouds.

A statue of the 18-meter-tall giant robot, Gundam (ã¬ã³ãã ) from the popular Japanese TV series Mobile Suit Gundam was erected at the Shizuoka Hobby Fair in Japan (Image courtesy of easegui on Flickr. License: CC BY-NC-SA).

21G.504 Japanese IV

The main objective of this course is to build up basic skills of communication in Japanese using appropriate speech levels in both writing and speaking for various social settings. This course covers Lessons 19 through 23 in the textbook Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese II.

Code is shown on a laptop screen in a dark room.

This course introduces deep learning in computer science. (Image is in the public domain. Courtesy of Markus Spiske.)

6.S191 Introduction to Deep Learning

This is MIT's introductory course on deep learning methods with applications to computer vision, natural language processing, biology, and more! Students will gain foundational knowledge of deep learning algorithms and get practical experience in building neural networks in TensorFlow. Course concludes with a project proposal competition with feedback from staff and panel of industry sponsors.

Prerequisites assume calculus (i.e. taking derivatives) and linear algebra (i.e. matrix multiplication), and we'll try to explain everything else along the way! Experience in Python is helpful but not necessary.

An encampment of protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation from 2016.

An encampment of protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in 2016, when plans to route an oil pipeline nearby attracted opposition from tribal activists and environmentalists. (Photo courtesy of Becker1999 on Flickr. License: CC BY.)

11.368 Environmental Justice Law and Policy

This seminar introduces students to basic principles of environmental justice and presents frameworks for analyzing and addressing inequalities in the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens from the perspectives of social science, public policy, and law.

Courses from MITâs 2021 MacVicar Fellows

A four-way shot of the four 2021 MacVicar Fellows awardees: (clockwise from top left): Michael Short, Larry Guth, Elsa Olivetti, and Michael Yaffe.

The 2021 MacVicar Faculty Fellows are (clockwise from top left): Michael Short, Larry Guth, Elsa Olivetti, and Michael Yaffe. Photo credits (clockwise from top left): Gretchen Ertl, Bryce Vickmark, Travis Gray, Bryce Vickmark.

For the past 29 years, the MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program has honored several MIT professors each year who have made outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching, educational innovation, and mentoring.

This yearâs awardees are Professors Larry Guth (mathematics), Elsa Olivetti (materials science and engineering), Michael Short (nuclear science and engineering), and Michael Yaffe (biology and biological engineering).

> Read the complete article

Views from OCW Supporters

The word "courage" is shown as a spray-painted mural on a wall. The legs of a walking person wearing black pants and white shoes is in front of the wall.

Photo by Oliver Cole on Unsplash.

Typically, the most important things in life are free. Nevertheless, they require investment of another sort, e.g., time. OCW not only provides one of such things, that is education, but provides education of the utmost quality. Best educators in the world provide highest quality lecture materials, videos, class session exercises, and on top of that they support the students in the discussion forums.

Sometimes, I am moved by the fact that MIT is willing to share with others. To me, this constitutes courage and character and as though it may sound sentimental, I believe that OCW embodies these characteristics.

-Jiri, student, Czech Republic

>We'd love to hear from you. Tell us your OCW Story.

Give in honor of 20 years

Two hands holding up number balloons-- "2" and "0"-- with a blue sky in the background.

Photo by Matthew Ball on Unsplash.

In our first 20 years OCW has become a robust free educational resource thousands of people rely on every day to improve their knowledge, circumstances, and communities.

Will you help us continue to share MIT resources with the world, and realize a bold vision for the next generation of OCW? If youâre in a position to donate, please consider a gift today in honor of 20 years of OCW.

For free resources for high school teachers and students, check out: