MIT Open Learning

To teach AI literacy, climate literacy must come with it. At SXSW EDU this spring, Chris Rabe joined a panel led by SubjectToClimate to address a critical blind spot: the environmental costs of AI are largely absent from how we teach the technology. Generative AI depends on massive data centers with significant water, electricity, and material demands — costs that are unevenly distributed around the world. If students become fluent in AI without understanding its resource footprint, we risk raising a generation that can operate these systems but isn't prepared to shape them responsibly. At MIT Open Learning, Christopher is developing Universal Climate and Energy — a new modular online offering that covers AI's energy and resource demands alongside ways to use AI for climate action. The panel's message was clear: AI literacy and climate literacy aren't separate subjects competing for space. Student learning deepens when they are taught together. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Ri6rlc MIT Energy and Climate

Did you know you can study online in subjects where MIT is ranked #1 in the world? QS World University Rankings placed MIT at the top for the 14th year in a row. This year, MIT also ranks #1 in 12 subject areas, from data science and AI to materials science, and #2 in seven more. With MIT Learn, you can access online courses and materials taught by MIT faculty in many of these very subjects, from anywhere in the world. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4u76azH

For nearly a decade, Elizabeth Siler, a professor at Worcester State University, has been teaching almost exclusively with MIT OpenCourseWare’s educational resources, adapting them and using them as a lens into how MIT designs learning experiences. For Siler, that access has reshaped her teaching and her perspective. “It’s really made me think about some things differently because education is a human right,” she says. “Everybody has a right to learn, not just the people who can afford to pay for it.” In our latest MIT Stories documentary, “The Courage to Be Open: MIT OpenCourseWare and the Democratization of Knowledge,” Siler reflects on the impact of open knowledge in her classroom and across the many students she’s taught. The 15-minute film traces the origins, global reach, and influence of OpenCourseWare — and how the Massachusetts Institute of Technology helped spark a movement that continues to shape how knowledge is shared. ▶️ Watch the full film and see how open knowledge is shaping futures everywhere: https://bit.ly/4sSvAjO

"A warm, joyful atmosphere, time spent with kind and inspiring colleagues, and more great ideas than can be found in my brain," said an OEGlobal 2024 attendee. Why should you attend #OEGlobal26 this October? ✨ Five tracks. All formats welcome: presentations, workshops, panels, round tables, lightning talks. ✨ Open Educators from every region are expected in person and online. ✨ Space for Indigenous and Western knowledge, arts, sciences, and adjacent open movements. ✨ Hybrid access, with online registration and satellite events worldwide. Find more reasons here → https://twp.ai/NSUf1v Registration opens May 15–Join us in Cambridge, Massachusetts & online. #OEGlobal26 #OpenEducation #OER #HigherEducation #FutureOfEducation

These seven MIT faculty and instructors received the 2026 Teaching with Digital Technology Award for their outstanding use of technology to improve learning in the classroom: ✨ David Autor — MIT Department of Economics ✨ Héctor Beltrán — MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences ✨ Christian Cardozo — Experimental Study Group / MIT Edgerton Center ✨ Barbara Hughey — MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) ✨ Wakana Maekawa — MIT Global Languages ✨ Basima Tewfik — MIT Sloan School of Management ✨ John Thomas — MIT AeroAstro The Teaching with Digital Technology Award, now in its 10th year, is entirely nominated and judged by students. Read more: https://bit.ly/4chD4X7

Have you ever cracked a glow stick and wondered what's actually happening inside? ✨ 🧪 It starts with hydrogen peroxide oxidizing special chemicals. As the reaction produces energy, electrons get excited and then release that energy as light. Different chemicals = different energy = different colors. This same chemiluminescence is used to create emergency flares that stay cool to the touch. And fireflies and anglerfish use bioluminescence, chemiluminescence in a biological system. Keep learning: https://bit.ly/491tF5b

For the 14th consecutive year, MIT is the #1 university in the world, according to QS World University Rankings. This year, the Institute earned the top spot in 12 subject areas, including computer science, data science and AI, mathematics, chemistry, and physics and astronomy. MIT also placed #2 in seven additional fields, from economics to biological sciences. The best part? You don't have to be on campus to learn from MIT. Explore online courses and resources in these top-ranked subjects on MIT Learn. ➡️ Start learning: https://bit.ly/4u76azH

Meet Sofia Lipkevych. Originally from Ukraine, she turned to MIT OpenCourseWare when the war started to go beyond her high school curriculum. Today, she’s a first-year student at MIT. Sofia is one of millions of learners whose lives have been changed by a bold decision in 2001 to make MIT's educational resources freely available to anyone, anywhere. Our new MIT Stories documentary, “The Courage to Be Open,” explores the origin, influence, and global reach of OpenCourseWare — and how the Massachusetts Institute of Technology helped ignite a global movement that continues to shape how knowledge is shared. Watch the full film and see how open knowledge is shaping futures everywhere: https://bit.ly/4sSvAjO

AI is reshaping every industry — but for many, it still feels out of reach. Universal AI changes that. This self-paced online program is designed to make AI fluency accessible to anyone — no coding background required. Built by 30+ MIT faculty and experts, it takes you from the fundamentals to real-world application across industries like healthcare, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. What makes it different: 🔹 Learn through real-world use cases, not abstract theory 🔹 Build practical understanding of machine learning, deep learning, LLMs, prescriptive AI, explainability, and more 🔹 Get personalized support from AskTIM, your AI-powered learning assistant 🔹 Earn stackable certificates from MIT Open Learning as you progress Start anytime. Learn at your own pace. Gain the confidence to engage with AI — wherever your work takes you next. Explore the program and enroll: https://bit.ly/4tDfgnW

What if more learners had access to the tools and perspectives needed to tackle the world’s toughest challenges? Universal Learning, our new initiative, is designed to do exactly that. Combining MIT’s subject matter expertise with Open Learning’s 25+ years of innovation in digital education, Universal Learning delivers an online experience that cultivates the interdisciplinary thinking that defines an MIT education. Learn more from Vice Provost Dimitris Bertsimas about why this initiative is key to expanding MIT's educational mission for the world: https://bit.ly/41QPCA3