OpenCourseWare MIT versus Distance Calculus Comparison

We are HUGE fans of the MIT OpenCourseware Mathematics catalog.

Specifically, the Linear Algebra courses by Gilbert Strang, longtime master teacher at MIT, are fabulous!

If you look through these course offerings, you will see that all of them are "snapshots" of previous courses over the past 10-15 years. They include fantastic lectures, awesome course materials, and challenging problem sets.

Keep in mind, however, that these OCW @ MIT courses do not grant academic credit. They are presented more as a resource for learning, and certainly an awesome resource! But if you "enroll" in one of these courses and start engaging the course materials and lectures, you will not be on a path towards earning academic credits for these courses.

Perhaps someday OCW courses will grant academic credit, but for now, they do not.

If you are looking for a non-credit alternative to just learn the course materials, OCW @ MIT is an excellent resource. You really feel like you are in a lecture hall at MIT taking one of these courses.

But if your goal is to earn academic credits for your Calculus course effort, you need to seek out an academic credit-granting program, like Distance Calculus @ Roger Williams University.

Comparison of OpenCourseWare @ MIT; vs Distance Calculus

Topic	MyMathLab®	Distance Calculus
Multiple Choice	No	No
Use of Computer Algebra System	No	Yes, Extensive
Tied to Traditional Textbook	Sometimes	No, Reform e-Curriculum
Recursive Grading	No	Yes
Comprehensive Course System	No, just access to lectures and homework problems	Yes
Drill & Practice	No	No

Here are a few videos about Distance Calculus @ Roger Williams University:

Is Distance Calculus for You?

Success Indicators for Distance Calculus

Distance Calculus - Student Reviews

Date Posted: May 18, 2025
Review by: Jenny Zuercher
Student Email: jenz2.home@icloud.com
Courses Completed: Precalculus, Calculus II
Review: Dr. Curtis's courses are very difficult, but they are definitely worth it! I took Calculus 2 from Dr. Curtis in my senior year of high school and went into a combined Calculus 2 and Calculus 3 course my first year of college. This course prepared me, and I found that I already knew much of the Calculus 3 coursework. The most difficult part of these courses, in my opinion, is pacing yourself. If you can keep yourself on track, then you are all good to go!
Transferred Credits to: University of Iowa

Date Posted: Jan 15, 2021
Review by: Rachel H.
Courses Completed: Probability Theory
Review: Dr. Curtis gave helpful and timely feedback, and made the teaching videos very engaging! The course model and associated software was easy to acclimate to.
Transferred Credits to: Cedarville University

Date Posted: Jun 2, 2021
Review by: Samuel H.
Student Email: samuel.howell@g.fmarion.edu
Courses Completed: Linear Algebra
Review: Nothing but praise for Dr. Curtis. He's an excellent professor who is very responsive and knowledgeable. I did this course at night while working full-time, and I often skyped him late in the evening with questions. He never took long to respond, regardless of when it was. I finished this course in about a month and a half, and I worked for it. For those looking for an easy A, this is not it. You will have to put in serious work, but you will come out of the course with a good understanding of the material, especially if you apply yourself throughout the entirety of the course.
Transferred Credits to: Francis Marion University

Distance Calculus - Curriculum Exploration

Systems of Equations

P10: Systems of Equations:

P10.1: Systems of Linear 2D Equations

P10.2: Matrices

P10.3: Systems of Linear 3D Equations

P10.4: Non-Linear Systems

Main Information Categories

College Students

Military Students

Parents

Course Process

Software Courses

High School Students

Graduate School Bound

High School Admins

Returning to Academics

More Details

Frequent Questions

Jessica M.★★★★★

Posted: Feb 25, 2020

Courses Completed: Applied Calculus

I highly recommend this course. I started the Kennedy School at Harvard with a last-minute admission, but my application required the Liberal Arts calculus course, so I had to finish the course in 3 weeks. Diane was an awesome instructor! The class was surprisingly interesting. If you need to take calculus fast, this is the program to use.

Transferred Credits To: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Anonymous☆☆☆☆☆

Posted: Dec 31, 1969

Chester F.★★★★☆

Posted: May 21, 2020

Courses Completed: Calculus I, Calculus II

I did not enjoy Calculus I at my school. I retook Calculus I, and then Calculus II, over the summer via Distance Calculus and it was awesome. I started my sophomore year back on track and ready for my physics classes. I struggled with the MathLive software but I guess it was alright.

Transferred Credits To: University of North Carolina

Abdul J.★★★★★

Posted: Jun 21, 2020

This was the best class! So much more interesting doing the computer math than a boring lecture class. Diane was so responsive and helpful. I recommend this course.

Transferred Credits To: Villanova University

Lucas L.★★★★★

Posted: Jun 25, 2026

Courses Completed: Multivariable Calculus

The professor as well as the TAs give great feedback when you need help with problems and the videos are great at explaining concepts. Return time on work is good and the work is not too much to handle.

Transferred Credits To: University of Wisconsin

Hari K.★★★★☆

Posted: Jun 24, 2026

Courses Completed: Linear Algebra

This course gives a perspective on Linear algebra that no traditional course does. I’d say i gained much more intuition for this subject from the DC course than my friends who took traditional courses elsewhere. As a cs major, this version of learning with visualization has helped me a lot in understand ML models. However the course doesn’t have videos for the last 2 chapers so i had to self learn with the mathematica notebooks. Response times are a little slow but since it’s a remote class, i guess it’s justified. Overall amazing course and definitely take this over traditional lin alg classes.

Julia★★★★★

Courses Completed: Calculus I

As a full-time business owner completing an Executive MBA, I needed to satisfy a calculus prerequisite without putting my work on hold. Distance Calculus made that possible. The fully self-paced structure let me work early mornings and weekends around an unpredictable schedule, which a fixed-semester classroom course never would have allowed.
The course covered the core business calculus material thoroughly — derivatives, optimization, integration techniques including u-substitution, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, improper integrals, and numerical methods. The LiveMath computer algebra environment was central to the experience: it forced me to build each step explicitly rather than just arriving at an answer, which actually deepened my understanding of the mechanics.
Communication through the student portal was responsive when I had questions. For working professionals who need a rigorous, accredited calculus course on a flexible timeline, I'd recommend it.

Transferred Credits To: MIT Ebma