Commitment

Our first duty is to the education of the students on our campus, and it is to this endeavor that the majority of our energy, resources, time and innovation are directed. Technology plays an increasingly vital role.
Charles Vest

The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.

We believe that the power of technology and the interconnectedness created by the world wide web provide an unparalleled opportunity to further our mission. Consequently, we have embraced educational technology wholeheartedly. We have dedicated funds, renovated campus spaces, built course management systems and overhauled teaching methodologies. we have given educational transformation through technology our full commitment.

Five Key Funding Sources for Educational Technology

The d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education

A generous $10 million grant by Alex and Brit d'Arbeloff devoted to strengthening the first-year experience at MIT. When the Fund was established in the spring of 1999, a group of 50 faculty, administrators and students joined forces to identify weaknesses in undergraduate education at MIT, and approaches for improving those weaknesses.

The group decided to use the d'Arbeloff funding specifically to improve the freshman-year experience by increasing intellectual excitement, increasing hands-on learning, and fostering mentoring between faculty and students.

iCampus, the MIT-Microsoft Alliance

A $25 million grant by the Microsoft Corporation dedicated to transforming the classroom experience using the tools of information technology. This multi-year initiative spans multiple disciplines and has funded dozens of faculty and student project with tremendous impact at MIT and beyond.

Hewlett-Packard Alliance

$25 million for projects and infrastructure that supported cutting-edge research at the intersection of academic and industrial needs. In the educational arena, this Alliance resulted in DSpace, the durable digital archive.

Class of 1960 Endowment for Innovation in Education

An alumni endowment for innovative instructional programs that harness rapid advances across disciplines.

Academic Computing Grants

Funding for educational computing initiatives that are responsive to changing needs.

Infrastructure

Wireless

With 2,800 wireless access points, the MIT campus is one of the largest geographic entities—about 9.4 million square feet—served by a single wireless network.

Flagged as a priority by the MIT Council on Educational Technology Infrastructure Group, this project was initiated in the spring of 2000. Today, even at its lowest point, wireless access holds at about one-third of the peak usage, with total wireless use peaking during business hours and dormitory use increasing from 5:30 p.m. to 8 a.m.

On a campus where most of the 10,000 students own laptop computers, people can be assured of connectivity anywhere and anytime.

Learning Management Systems

Faculty require tremendous functionality, flexibility, and customization in a course management system—coupled with ease of use. MIT has developed two systems—Stellar and SloanSpace. SloanSpace is based on open architecture, dotLRN has over 240,000 students logging at just two universities in Spain.

Services and Support

AMPS

Educational technology for the MIT community, including multimedia, video, web, videoconferencing, and course management services.

Teaching with Technology

This resource website for faculty lists educational technology services at MIT.

Teaching and Learning Laboratory (TLL)

A resource for faculty, administrators, and students who share a desire to improve the quality of teaching and learning at MIT.

Educational Technology Consultants

These consultants provide guidance on educational technologies and their use in the classroom, Stellar course management system support and training, outreach and communications, math and engineering software support, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support and development, and New Media Center cluster support.

Learning Spaces

As ideas about education and pedagogy have evolved, learning spaces have evolved with them. Redesigned MIT classrooms now encourage hands-on learning and rich peer-to-peer interaction—as well as accommodating new communications technology.