<p>I can see the value of MIT OCW in addressing the global inequality of access to educational opportunities and sharing knowledge. And indeed I am inspired when I read about stories that some nations have been translating all OCW materials into their respective languages.</p>
<p>Obviously an MIT education does not equal to mere access of some online course information. But don't you think that the OCW initiative also enhances the institute's expectations for its own students? For example, just understanding and commanding the available knowledge would be far from meeting those expectations. It means that the students need to work harder and smarter now. What else does it mean to the students? Can anyone shed some light on the topic?</p>
<p>As a student, my major use for OCW was seeing which topics were covered in classes I was interested in taking, then seeing which textbooks were used so I could buy them online before term started.</p>
<p>I didn't find OCW particularly useful for classes I was taking, just classes I was considering taking.</p>
<p>OCW is useful for me, an incoming freshman, because I can access material and see what's in store for me if I sign up for a certain class. It's also the primary source of information for students taking Advanced Standing Exams to see what kind of material is likely to be on the exams.</p>
<p>Oh man, if OCW had more video lectures posted it would basically take over the world. I heard a presentation by someone deeply involved in the OCW project, and she said that one of the most popular things about OCW according to a poll of MIT students was the Walter Lewin physics lectures. I've definitely watched them to help study for classes I was currently in at the time.</p>
<p>I'm using it to study 2.003 over the summer, since my schedule next year is:</p>
<p>2.002
2.003
2.005
4.411 (lab)
4.520 (if my advisor lets me take 5 classes that is!)</p>
<p>and I REALLY want to do well. So I'm trying to basically take the class over the summer by doing the psets every week and takign practice quizzes and reading the book. </p>
<p>My advice: pick the major you like first, otherwise you'll be stuck with 4 really hard classes per term for the rest of your MIT career! That is, if you want to graduate on time. My brass rat says 2009 darnit!!</p>
<p>The only time I ever used it was for 8.01 freshman year because the prof didn't realize that some pset questions he was reusing had been posted on OCW. It really helped out when me and my friends would get stuck on a problem on a night where people were partying and we could just hop on OCW and get a full explanation on how to do the problem.</p>
<p>The 8.01 and 8.02 are essential, and I found I liked 18.03 better on OCW than in person. The ability to pause, re-watch, and revisit parts of your current and past lectures is very useful, and in general it's a great way to augment your studies with additional notes, different explanations, and more practice problems.</p>