OpenCourseWare is a way for MIT to allow anyone to self-learn from MIT. Some course material is made public for anyone to download and follow. So I decided to give you some intro to what courses you can self-learn at MIT, ranging from Air Traffic controller to quantum physics. Here are my so far favorites:
ESD.86 Models, Data and Inference for Socio-Technical Systems: Have you ever wondered what the chances are that your date happens to have the same birthday as you do, or likes the same color (this is all very theoretical of course. Dating is not an expert field at MIT)? When you’re stuck in traffic, what chances are there that you always end up in the slowest lane? This class will allow students to “enhance their model-building skills, through review and extension of functions of random variables, Poisson processes, and Markov processes; move from applied probability to statistics via Chi-squared t and f tests, derived as functions of random variables; and review classical statistics, hypothesis tests, regression, correlation and causation, simple data mining techniques, and Bayesian vs. classical statistics”. Aaah… yes.
21W.772 Digital Poetry:Of course a popular arts class at MIT. Every digital media can be poetic. This class allows students to “examine published examples of digital poetry in a variety of forms including but not limited to soundscapes, hypertext poetry, animation, code poems, interactive games, location-based poems using handheld devices, digital video and wikis”. I always code in rhyme!
16.851 Satellite Engineering: So, do you have to be a rocket scientist to build satellites? Yes. And what better place than MIT to become a rocket scientist? Of course, self-learners can skip the rocket part and dive straight into “how to create a satellite” by taking this course. “The course presents characteristic subsystems, such as power, structure, communication and control, and analyzes the engineering trades necessary to integrate subsystems successfully into a satellite.”

22.312 Engineering of Nuclear Reactors: If satellites is a bit far out in space for you, nuclear reactors are always in demand. The course covers the engineering principles of nuclear reactors and discuss key topics like reactor heat generation, thermodynamics and such. Interestingly enough, the only requirement for the class seems to be knowledge of matlab while quantum physics isn’t mentioned at all.
18.098 / 6.099 Street-Fighting Mathematics: Like all nerds know, Kung Fu Fighting is an art but only works in Hollywood movies like The Matrix or if your name is Bruce Lee. When it comes down to hard core, real life street fighting mano-o-nerd, mathematics is the solution for survival. “Techniques include extreme-cases reasoning, dimensional analysis, successive approximation, discretization, generalization, and pictorial analysis. Applications include mental calculation, solid geometry, musical intervals, logarithms, integration, infinite series, solitaire, and differential equations”. I bet that keeps you safe at night!

CMS.998 / CMS.600 Videogame Theory and Analysis: A definite hit at MIT. Get a chance to play AND analyze videogames… for credit! “Students play and analyze videogames while examining debates surrounding how games function within socially situated contexts” This should be a fairly easy self-learning course.

16.892J / ESD.353J Space System Architecture and Design: Design and architecture is always cool. Take it to space makes it even cooler. “The class reviews existing space system architectures and the classical methods of designing them”. I bet Star Wars, Babylon 5 or Battlestar Galactica becomes important sources of inspiration.

SP.778 Toy Product Design: This is a topic I would love to know more on. Making toys seems like fun thing to do, and after all MIT loves to play. “In this course, students work in small teams of 5-6 members to design and prototype new toys. Students work closely with a local sponsor and experienced mentors on a themed toy design project”. Fun!

9.22J / HST.422J A Clinical Approach to the Human Brain: seems like another “brainiac” class at MIT, although an important topic. Much is yet to learn about the human brain and how it works. “The course will cover the regional anatomy of the brain and provide an introduction to the cellular function of neurons, synapses and neurotransmitters.” Sounds great! My only question would be: how do you go about doing this as a self-learning course?

All courses described and so many more can be downloaded from http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm. Enjoy!