About Open Yale Courses

This page lists frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the goals, scope, and production of Open Yale Courses.

For technical support questions, please see the "Help" section of the project site.

1. What is Open Yale Courses?
2. Why is Yale sharing some of its undergraduate courses free worldwide?
3. What is included in these online courses?
4. How do I enroll?
5. Who will find these courses useful?
6. Will I be able to ask the professor a question or submit written work?
7. Can I receive credit for a Yale course offered online?
8. I want to take Yale classes for credit. What should I do?
9. Who is leading Open Yale Courses for Yale?
10. Who is participating in Open Yale Courses?
11. Who is producing the courses?
12. Who is supporting Open Yale Courses?
13. What new courses will be added? When?
14. Can I share the lectures and other course materials with others or adapt them for use in my classroom or on my web site?
15. Are other universities offering free access to videotaped courses online?

1. What is Open Yale Courses?

   Open Yale Courses provides lectures and other materials from selected Yale College courses to the public free of charge via the internet. The courses span the full range of liberal arts disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, and physical and biological sciences.

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2. Why is Yale sharing some of its undergraduate courses free worldwide?

   While it has long upheld the principle that education is best built upon direct interactions among teachers, students, and staff, Yale also believes that leading universities can make an important contribution to expanding access to educational resources through the use of internet technology. The goals of the project also align with the University's aim to increase its presence and strengthen its relationships internationally.

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3. What is included in these online courses?

   Each course includes a full set of class lectures produced in high-quality video accompanied by such other course materials as syllabi, suggested readings, and problem sets. The lectures are available as downloadable videos, and an audio-only version is also offered. In addition, searchable transcripts of each lecture are provided.

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4. How do I enroll?

   No enrollment or registration is required. Anyone with access to the internet can enter the web site and view the lectures and other materials.

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5. Who will find these courses useful?

   The online courses are designed for a wide range of people around the world, among them self-directed and life-long learners, educators, and high school and college students. The integrated, highly flexible web interface allows users, in effect, to audit Yale undergraduate courses if they wish to. It also gives the user a wide variety of other options for structuring the learning process, for example downloading, redistributing, and remixing course materials.

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6. Will I be able to ask the professor a question or submit written work?

   No. Open Yale Courses is not designed to offer users the opportunity to interact with Yale faculty. Please visit the "Help" page for assistance with technical questions.

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7. Can I receive credit for a Yale course offered online?

   No, the courses are not offered for credit.

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8. I want to take Yale classes for credit. What should I do?

   Those interested in pursuing a program of study at Yale can visit http://www.yale.edu/ for information on applying for admission.

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9. Who is leading Open Yale Courses for Yale?

   Diana E. E. Kleiner, Dunham Professor of History of Art and Classics and former Deputy Provost, directs Open Yale Courses. Professor Kleiner brings to the project a wealth of experience in the development of internet educational offerings as well as her long-time experience as Yale professor, scholar, and administrator. Visit http://arthistory.yale.edu/faculty/faculty/faculty_kleiner.html.

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10. Who is participating in Open Yale Courses?

    Leading Yale scholars and scientists who teach outstanding courses at the first- and second-year undergraduate level are participating in Open Yale Courses. The project web site provides links to their biographical information and departmental affiliation.

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11. Who is producing the courses?

    The Yale Center for Media and Instructional Innovation (CMI2) is producing the courses, transcriptions, and supplementary courseware contained within Open Yale Courses. The Center's mission is to promote the innovative use of technology University-wide to enhance learning at Yale and beyond. Visit the CMI2 Staff page.

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12. Who is supporting Open Yale Courses?

    Open Yale Courses is supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, CA. Through its Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative, launched in 2001, the Hewlett Foundation "seeks to use information technology to help equalize access to knowledge and educational opportunities across the world."  The initiative supports "the development and dissemination of high quality content, innovative approaches to remove barriers to the creation, use, re-use and sharing of high quality content, and projects that seek to improve understanding of the demand for openly available content." Visit http://www.hewlett.org.

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13. What new courses will be added? When?

    Eleven more courses and associated course materials will be added to the website in late 2010. The next set of offerings will continue to feature introductory undergraduate courses that cover the full range of arts and humanities, social science, and natural science disciplines.

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14. Can I share the lectures and other course materials with others or adapt them for use in my classroom or on my web site?

    The license that covers most of the lectures and other course material on Open Yale Courses is Creative Commons' Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license. This license permits the free use or re-purposing of the Open Yale Courses material by others. Under this license you are allowed to download and redistribute the Open Yale Courses material or remix, tweak, and build upon this material to produce new lectures or other types of creations. To be allowed to do so, however, your use of the material must be non-commercial and you must credit Yale [and the appropriate Yale faculty member] as the originators of the material. Additionally, you must license any new use of the Open Yale Courses material under identical terms. For more information on the scope of the Creative Commons license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/.

    In some cases, material under copyright held by a third party (i.e., an individual or organization not connected with Yale) may be subject to more restrictive licensing terms. Please refer to the Credit Section of the lectures and course material to identify third-party material.

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15. Are other universities offering free access to videotaped courses online?

    Yes, a large and growing assortment of educational resources is available through OER Commons at http://www.oercommons.org and from the many institutions worldwide participating in the OpenCourseWare Consortium. Visit http://www.ocwconsortium.org. Both OER Commons and the OpenCourseWare Consortium are funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Visit http://www.hewlett.org.

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