Free Online Courseware From Academic Powerhouses

These are great times indeed to be using the Web for learning. Today, many reputable academic institutions are beginning to offer courseware for free online. Generally referred to as "open courseware" it's an initiative on the part of many universities to bring quality educational resources to the masses by way of the Internet.

And while free courseware typically won't get you an accredited degree from one of these top universities, it will expose you to much of the same learning materials online that previously you could only get in their classrooms.

Some prominent examples of this open courseware initiative on the Web include:

• MIT OpenCourseWare - The Massachusets Institute of Technology currently offers 1800 courses online.

• Open Yale Courses - Yale University recently joined the open courseware initiative by offering seven free online courses with plans to offer more in the future.

To learn more about this growing online learning initiative and for a list of additional participating colleges and universities, visit the OpenCourseWare Consortium.