Free artificial intelligence and machine learning courses

Free courses and learning resources covering artificial intelligence and machine learning are accessible through Massachusetts Institute of Technology educational initiatives. The MIT Learn digital hub aggregates thousands of non-degree learning options, including the Universal AI curriculum. Additionally, MIT researchers provide open-source artificial intelligence curricula tailored for middle school classrooms.

Educational offerings on the MIT Learn platform

Thousands of non-degree learning opportunities across MIT learning platforms are accessible through the MIT Learn website ^[1]. Spearheaded by MIT Open Learning, the platform makes it easier to discover available resources, and 98 percent of the content is free ^[1]. MIT Learn enables learners to access more than 12,700 educational resources from departments across the Institute, including introductory and advanced courses, courseware, videos, and podcasts ^[2]. The platform is designed to connect existing Institute learning platforms seamlessly in one place ^[3]. This initiative follows a precedent established in 2001, when MIT became the first higher education institution to provide educational resources for free to anyone in the world ^[4].

MIT Learn gathers all the knowledge and learning resources offered across all of MIT into a learner-friendly, curatable repository ^[5]. Universal AI was launched as a pilot program and represents the first offering in a new collection of curricula from Open Learning called Universal Learning, which is designed to meet a growing need of students and professionals ^[6]. MIT Learn was designed to account for evolving learner needs by highlighting supplemental study materials for middle school, high school, and college students, alongside upskilling opportunities and reskilling programs for professionals ^[7]. Learners who create an account on MIT Learn receive personalized course recommendations, curate resource lists, follow specific areas of interest, and receive notifications when new MIT content becomes available ^[8]. Looking ahead, MIT Open Learning remains focused on driving innovation and educating one billion learners over the next ten years ^[9].

Open-source school curricula and machine learning projects

MIT researchers and collaborators have developed an open-source curriculum to teach young students about ethics and artificial intelligence ^[10]. Designed by an MIT team for middle school students, the curriculum aims to help learners understand how artificial intelligence systems are designed, how they can influence the public, and how to use them to succeed in jobs of the future ^[11]. The effort grew out of a program initiated three years prior by the Personal Robots Group to teach artificial intelligence concepts to preschoolers before developing curricula geared toward middle school students ^[12]. The curriculum incorporates the work of Personal Robots Group graduate research assistant Blakeley Hoffman Payne, whose research focuses on artificial intelligence ethics and how to teach children to design, use, and think about AI ^[13].

The curriculum, How to Train Your Robot, was piloted at an i2 summer camp in Boston prior to being presented to local teachers during Massachusetts STEM Week ^[14]. Participating teachers, many of whom had little familiarity with STEM subjects, completed two days of professional development training to prepare them to deliver more than 20 class hours of artificial intelligence content to their students ^[15]. Classroom students took part in discussions and creative activities that involved designing robot companions and using machine learning to solve observed real-world problems ^[16]. These creative projects allowed students to evaluate problems from diverse angles and consider issues of bias before a system is designed ^[17]. In one sign language project, a student trained her algorithm around individuals of diverse skin tones and included adults to address potential algorithmic bias in the system design ^[18]. Another group of students constructed a library robot intended to locate and retrieve books for people with mobility challenges ^[19]. Educators have expressed interest in expanding these efforts by weaving artificial intelligence projects into subjects including social studies, math, science, art, and music ^[20].

Search and navigation features on MIT Learn

MIT Learn provides sophisticated search, browse, and discovery features that allow users to explore subjects without needing to understand Institute organizational structures or departmental names ^[21]. An artificial intelligence recommendation tool called Ask Tim complements traditional search tools to help users locate courses and resources aligned with personal and professional goals ^[22]. Learners can also prompt Ask Tim for summaries covering course structures, topics, and expectations prior to enrolling ^[23]. In select offerings, AskTIM summarizes lectures, reinforces core concepts, and guides students through homework assignments and quizzes without providing the answers directly ^[24].

Key facts

• MIT Learn opens access to thousands of non-degree learning opportunities and more than 12,700 educational resources across departments, with 98 percent of the content provided for free ^[1][2].
• MIT Learn gathers all the knowledge and learning resources offered across all of MIT into a learner-friendly, curatable repository ^[5].
• Universal AI serves as the pilot offering in the Universal Learning collection of curricula designed by Open Learning ^[6].
• MIT researchers created open-source artificial intelligence curricula, including How to Train Your Robot, to teach middle school students about ethics and technology design ^[10][11][14].
• Middle school students engage in hands-on activities using machine learning to address challenges such as sign language recognition and mobility assistance ^[16][18][19].
• Teachers participating in Massachusetts STEM Week took two days of professional training to prepare more than 20 class hours of artificial intelligence instruction ^[15].
• The MIT Learn platform utilizes Ask Tim to recommend courses, summarize course structures, and support students through homework and quizzes in select offerings ^[22][23][24].