Every individual has the potential to create change, whether in their life, their community, or the world. The transformative power of education is what unlocks that potential. Yet, access to high-quality education has been a privilege of the few. Back in 2012, we realized it was a time for a seismic shift in learning. From the tried and true to the leading edge. From “for some” to “for all.” By opening the classroom through online learning, edX empowers millions of learners to unlock their potential and become changemakers.
While the internet was enabling innovation at scale across a vast array of industries, higher education was reaching only a tiny fraction of the world’s curious minds. One afternoon in an MIT lab Professor Anant Agarwal and his colleagues from MIT and Harvard sketched out a long shot experiment: a platform that would offer their courses online, open to any person up to the challenge, for free. In February of 2012 Professor Agarwal’s MIT Circuits and Electronics course was launched, and edX.org was born.
