Students at AIT to have free access to over 1,800 courses

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology of USA has entered into an institutional cooperation agreement with the Accra Institute of Technology to enable AIT have teaching and learning materials of all degree courses being taught at MIT via the Open Courseware initiative of the university.

Through this agreement, AIT's faculty and students would from now on have direct and free access to teaching and learning materials on over 1,800 courses spanning MIT's entire curriculum via AIT's university campus network, a statement by Clement Dzidonu, President of AIT, said in Accra on Monday.

It said as part of the agreement, MIT had made available to AIT a specially configured disk containing materials on all MIT's degree programmes including syllabuses, reading materials, lecture notes, students handouts, courseware, lessons, learning videos, exams, e-books, e-journals, lab resources and other teaching and learning materials of all MIT's undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

"AIT students can now have direct and free access to all these materials on AIT's campus network server without the need to download them over the Internet. MIT using an online link over the Internet will regularly update these resources on the AIT's server which is serving as a mirror site for the MIT's Open Courseware system."

According to Professor Dzidonu this special agreement with MIT was in line with AIT's determination to offer its campus-based and online students in Ghana and elsewhere world-class high quality education and professional training.

"Our students can now have direct and free access to all learning resources on all degree programmes available to MIT students in the USA. Our faculty members can also have direct access to teaching materials and lecture notes prepared by top-notch lecturers at MIT to teach our own students in Ghana."

According to Susan Hockfield, President of MIT, the vast majority of the faculty - over 90% - had voluntarily contributed their teaching materials for free and open publishing on OCW. MIT faculties are passionate about their teaching and they are keen to see their work benefit global society.

It said this partnership with MIT was at the heels of the accreditation given to AIT last November by the United Kingdom Engineering Council to offer its high level engineering qualifications.

"This unprecedented accreditation, the first to be given to a Ghanaian University, puts AIT at par with leading technological universities offering undergraduate and postgraduate engineering degree programs in the UK and in the developed world," Prof Hockfield said.

"Working with world-class institutions like MIT and the UK Engineering Council is central to AIT's strategy to partner with the best in the world of university education and professional training to offer our students world-class quality degree programs of international standard," noted Frank Braimah, Director of Operations at AIT.

AIT is a technology-focused university modelled on internationally recognized institutes of technologies like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA and the Indian Institute of Technologies among others.

By slarge