MIT announced yesterday it intends to make materials for nearly all its courses available through the Internet to the general public—at no charge.

The 10-year project, dubbed the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW), is a radical new step in Internet policy among institutions of higher learning. For most colleges and universities, course websites are currently the extent of their use of the Internet for the dissemination of academic materials. A handful of others are involved in developing the technology for distance learning programs.

And MIT's project goes far beyond the scope of most distance learning programs-none of which are offering full courses to the general public without a fee.

The project will feature lecture notes, course outlines, reading lists and assignments for each of MIT's nearly 2,000 courses.

Harvard Provost Harvey V. Fineberg ’67 said the University will have to weigh its options carefully before deciding whether to follow MIT’s course of action.

“Every university, including Harvard, will need to make decisions about the type, form and extent of information it places on the Internet,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Yesterday's press release emphasized the enormous impact MIT hopes the initiative will have on would-be students around the world. In addition to inspiring self-study by interested individuals, OCW may help developing nations build their own systems of higher education, starting with the MIT curriculum as a model.

MIT also stressed the potential OCW has to open the dialogue on education by fostering an environment in which curricula can be more easily discussed and compared.

"We see it as a source material that will support education worldwide, including innovations in the process of teaching and learning itself," said MIT President Charles M. Vest in a statement released yesterday.

The project is not without its critics.

One response to the initiative has been that increasing access to materials offered by MIT courses will decrease the value of an MIT education.

"I hear that as a potential concern," said MIT spokesperson Patti Richards, "but this is not meant to replace an MIT education.”

Richards pointed out that the experience of being in the classroom, listening to lectures and interacting with one’s peers, cannot be duplicated over the web. Furthermore, MIT will not offer any form of academic credit as part of OCW.

Other critics noted the legal complications that may arise with the distribution of copyrighted materials and intellectual property. But MIT has said the same policies currently followed by its faculty when dealing with these issues will apply to the web courses as well.

Despite some criticisms, Richards said the response to the initiative has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

"We made the announcement only this morning and already I have received so many e-mails from people all over the world thanking me-they're really touching-saying this is the most wonderful news in the world and asking, 'Where can I make a tax-deductible contribution?'" she said.

The response at Harvard has been equally positive. Harvard faculty members have previously expressed interest in using the Internet to disseminate the academic resources Harvard has to offer, and many said they are intrigued by the promise of MIT program.

"I think it's phenomenal," said McKay Professor of Applied Physics Eric Mazur. "If you look at my own course website, I've always insisted on making it available to everyone. I think this is really the way to go. I'm just saddened that we didn't do it before them."

Fineberg would not say whether the Harvard administration would approve of a program like MIT’s initiative. Last year, Harvard turned down an offer to join a distance learning alliance among Princeton, Yale, Stanford and Oxford.

"Harvard hasn't decided to jump on the distance learning bandwagon, but clearly MIT hasn't either," Mazur said.