 In 2001 , inspired by the open source and open access movements , MIT launched OpenCourseWare to make the lecture notes , problem sets , syllabuses , exams , and lectures from the great majority of its courses available online for no charge , though without any formal accreditation for coursework completed . While the cost of supporting and hosting the project is high , OCW expanded in 2005 to include other universities as a part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium , which currently includes more than 250 academic institutions with content available in at least six languages . In 2011 , MIT announced it would offer formal certification ( but not credits or degrees ) to online participants completing coursework in its " <unk> " program , for a modest fee . The " <unk> " online platform supporting <unk> was initially developed in partnership with Harvard and its analogous " <unk> " initiative . The <unk> platform is open source , and other universities have already joined and added their own course content . 
