Professor ALLAN SNYDER "Centre For The Mind" investigates switching off parts of the brain - temporarily. "Instead of looking at the skill - look at the waves that are happening in your brain while you are doing the skill - it's called Biological Feedback."

"Here's what I think is so extraordinary - we don't have access to these skills because they're not normally important to us -- when I see a ball it's not important to me to know how the ball has been derived in my brain as a ball, shape from shading.  Being creative is being able to look at the world in different ways, and this will allow the world to be seen in a way that is different -- and that is what helps us become more creative." said Professor Allan Snyder. 

Australian Network Premiere Screening Ch 9
SUNDAY Program - Sunday 6th May @ 9:00am
Fragments of Genius, the BBC documentary showcasing Australian Professor Allan Snyder, will premiere on Channel 9's Sunday Program this Sunday, 6 May at 9 a.m.

This Australian television premiere is expected to spark a debate about the ability for all of us to access the extraordinary skills of savants, like the one portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the Hollywood movie Rainman.
Professor Snyder is available for interview & comment.
Phone: (612) 9351 8532 Mobile: 0410 693 890
 
 

          The idea behind MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) is to make MIT course materials that are used in the teaching of almost all undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. 

Nothing of this scale has ever been attempted before. 

The goal is to provide the course materials free and open to the world. 

MIT plans to begin a pilot program in the fall of 2001, with a goal of making over 500 courses available on the World Wide Web over the next 2 1/2 years. Over the next decade, the project expects to provide over 2000 courses across MIT's entire curriculum -- in architecture and planning, engineering, humanities, arts, social sciences, management, and science.

 
"OpenCourseWare looks counter-intuitive in a market driven world. It goes against the grain of current material values. But it really is consistent with what I believe is the best about MIT. It is innovative. It expresses our belief in the way education can be advanced -- by constantly widening access to information and by inspiring others to participate," said President Vest of MIT.

"I am a Nigerian student who has dreamt all his life of studying in MIT. Thanks a lot for making this dream come true, for if I can't come to MIT, MIT has now come to me."

 India

"I write this letter to convey my best wishes for the success of your OpenCourseWare program. I am resident in India, and would have given anything to have had access to such a facility when I was a student. I used to be frustrated when I wanted to learn and could not afford to buy books or simply did not have access to such books in local book shops." 

"In a time when America is blamed for so much that is meretricious or downright bad, it is truly wonderful to have a gesture like MIT's rise above the tawdry. Personally, I intend to take advantage of it in my approaching old age!"

"As an engineering student, I've used study materials already available on the MIT web site many times. I salute MIT for taking this important step for sharing knowledge that will greatly benefit students like me all over the developing world."