OpenCourseWare Consortium

OpenCourseWare Consortium

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing open courseware and its impact on global education. Its goal is to extend the reach and impact of open courseware by encouraging the adoption and
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education open-access courseware

OpenCourseWare Consortium: Collaboration for Global Education

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing open courseware and its impact on global education. Its goal is to extend the reach and impact of open courseware by encouraging the adoption and adaptation of open educational materials around the world.

What is OpenCourseWare Consortium?

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a global network of educational institutions, organizations and individuals committed to advancing open courseware and its impact on global education. It was launched in 2005 with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and MIT.

The consortium's mission is to advance education and empower people worldwide through open courseware. Its goals include:

  • Encouraging the adoption and adaptation of open educational materials around the world
  • Fostering new open courseware projects
  • Enabling transparency and ease of use in open courseware projects
  • Promoting sustainability of open courseware projects

The OpenCourseWare Consortium facilitates collaboration between its members through activities such as local regional meetings, working groups, conferences, and webinars. It also provides services and resources to support open courseware publishing and use.

As of 2022, the OpenCourseWare Consortium has over 250 member institutions from around the world. Notable members include MIT, Johns Hopkins University, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Indian Institutes of Technology, University of Michigan, and United Nations University.

OpenCourseWare Consortium Features

Features

  1. Provides free access to course materials and resources from member institutions
  2. Course materials include syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, exams, etc
  3. Allows broad dissemination of knowledge from leading universities worldwide
  4. Promotes collaboration between faculty, students and institutions
  5. Supports open education and open educational resources (OER) movement

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Increases access to high-quality educational materials

Reduces cost of education for students

Allows self-directed and lifelong learning opportunities

Fosters pedagogical innovation through OER collaboration

Promotes global exchange of ideas and cultures

Cons

Relies on volunteer contributions so offerings can be inconsistent

Quality of materials can vary greatly between courses

Lack of credentialing or accreditation for most courses

Language barriers for non-English materials

Sustainability challenges due to reliance on grants and donations


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