Recent advances enable entirely new ways to think about teaching and learning. At MIT, we envision a future in which digital learning tools enable even more opportunities to heighten curiosity, enhance understanding, and learn by doing, on campus.
The potential of MITx is not only improved access to content, but also the development of entirely new modes of interaction for members of the MIT community.”
– Dean of Undergraduate Education, Dennis Freeman
In this section, you will find:
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Residential MITx - examples of how the open edX platform is being used for online learning on campus at MIT
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Digital Tools for Classrooms - tools and digital-learning capabilities outside Residential MITx being used by faculty to improve learning at MIT
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Resources & References - research-based practices for teaching and learning
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Teaching with Digital Technology Awards - winners of MIT's student nominated award for innovative faculty use of digital technology
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Festival of Learning - an institute-wide festival celebrating the catalyzing power of initiatives which transform education at MIT and globally
Using digital tools to deepen learning @ MIT
The previous earthquake from educational technology happened in the 15th century, when Gutenberg's printing technology made books affordable. In 1350, the equivalent of today's $5 paperback cost $15,000 (in today's dollars). Once books became inexpensive, merely preserving and distributing knowledge no longer required lectures — the original photocopying technology. However, the university, a social technology that predates printing, hardly changed.
Today, digital technologies for teaching and learning give us another opportune point for advancement. Can digital learning tools enable efficient authoring of modular, extendable curricular building blocks, to help teachers innovate and connect? Can digital learning light up students, and turn the residential classroom into a place where knowledge is not just transmitted but also transformed and brought to life? In short, can digital learning be a means toward the goal of deep learning?
MIT’s motto, mens et manus (mind and hand), imbues an emphasis on combining theory and practice into MIT’s culture of teaching. Digital learning at MIT builds on this and creates new opportunities for freeing up time in the classroom for more face to face interaction and hands-on work. Digital learning also practices application of MIT’s leading thinking on the science of learning, putting into practice new teaching methods that theory indicates are more effective.
Physics 1 Demonstration
I don’t think I can ever go back to pure lecture-style teaching.”
– Professor Shigeru Miyagawa