The MITx program was announced on December 19, 2011, and originally included three components: 1) development and offering of massive open online courses, 2) research on the effectiveness of emerging digital learning tools, and 3) the development of an open source platform for offering massive open online courses. Initial course and platform development for MITx was undertaken under the direction of Professor
Anant Agarwal in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). On May 3, 2012, the open platform component was spun off into
edX, a non-profit co-owned by MIT and Harvard and charged with platform development and the creation of a consortium of leading institutions offering MOOCs. Professor Agarwal was named the first president of edX. On November 20, 2012, the MITx program was placed organizationally within the newly created MIT Office of Digital Learning, which would also eventually include three other MIT organizations:
MIT OpenCourseWare, the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, and Academic Media Production Services. Materials Science professor
Sanjay Sarma was named MIT's Director of Digital Learning and Computer Science professor Isaac Chuang was named associate director of Digital Learning. ==Courses and programs offered==