Thomas Adewumi University, Nigeria, today has joined the league of universities and educational organizations worldwide creating opportunities for learners in Africa through the Open Educational Resources (OER) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through their OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative.
“I am proud to announce that TAU has joined the prestigious MIT OCW in unlocking access to global knowledge, and fast becoming a major player in the global Open Educational Resources (OERs) movement,” said the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Francisca Oladipo, FNCS, while announcing the implementation of the Mirror Site Program. “We are excited to join the global revolution on free access to learning resources that meet the need of individual users as we open MIT’s full curriculum to the world and offer unlimited courses to both the young and the old,” added the Professor of Computing. She further added that, “in hosting a mirror of the MIT OCW on our campus here at Oko-Irese, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, we have not only put Nigeria and Kwara State on the global OCW map but have also further reinforced our position as one of the knowledge hubs in Africa.”
The MIT OCW Mirror Site Project offers high-quality educational materials from the entire MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum across all MIT schools and academic units. TAU is proud to be one of the dozen institutions in Africa to host a mirror site of the OCW. Additionally, implementing this project in the month of March after the celebration of the International Women’s Day, where digital equality is the theme, further showcases the institution’s commitment to creating a world of more equitable and inclusive education for everyone, and helping to bridge the digital divide through providing users with the resources they need to succeed in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world.
“The idea of openness resonates with us in the Thomas Adewumi academic family haven spent the past 27 years nurturing great minds through generating, sharing, and preserving knowledge. When the VC signed the Memorandum of Cooperation with the MIT in October last year, we saw another opportunity to support the fulfillment of one of our livelong missions of disseminating knowledge to other young learners in Africa” said the Chancellor of the university, Engr. Dr. JBO Adewumi, FNSE.
MIT has been creating new opportunities for millions of learners and educators worldwide through the OCW program where MIT faculty share their teaching materials with learners and educators around the world for self-paced teaching and learning, and curriculum development, and other supplementary use. The TAU mirror is the newest addition to the global network, and it is part of the institution’s commitment to supporting teaching and learning through the provision of easy access to world-class learning materials. By hosting the MIT OCW mirror on the campus, TAU is helping to reduce the burden on other mirrors and ensuring that learners in Africa can access the resources they need without delays or interruptions.
The TAU mirror will be available to learners worldwide and will offer a comprehensive collection of over 2000 courses accessible across different Operating Systems and web browsers. In addition, the mirror will provide up-to-date versions of the course materials making it an essential resource for all fast-paced learners. TAU invites learners and educators to access the new mirror at https://ocw.tau.edu.ng
