What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are high-quality teaching and learning materials that are free for educators and students to use, customize, and share. The use of such resources addresses the rapid increase in the cost of textbooks and other learning materials in the last two decades and supports instructional innovation.
How is MHEC addressing OER in the Midwest and beyond?
MHEC supports its member states as they increase their capacity to implement OER and establish sustainable use of them at the institutional, system, and state levels. This work at MHEC started in 2018 with a kick-off at the OER Implementation and Policy Summit for the MHEC States. In 2020, the four regional compacts formed a nationwide network of OER support known as the National Consortium of Open Educational Resources (NCOER). Each regional compact received an 18-month, $250,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation to increase OER capacity and implementation in its member states, to share best practices, scale successful efforts, and leverage collective resources to enhance OER implementation across the county. In September 2022, MHEC received an additional $432,400 grant from the Hewlett Foundation to continue the work with the Midwestern states and the collaboration with the NCOER.
Together, we are engaging in new opportunities to build capacity for policy and effective practice, enable substantial research, develop open education solutions that promote equitable learning, and support coordination across regions to scale and sustain use of OER across the country.
Stay in Touch
Sign up for our MHEC OER Newsletter.
Join an OER State Action Team.
OER Resources
In the side navigation you will find links to resources to support your work in OER, including links to repositories to find OER, research on the efficacy of OER, state and leader advocacy resources, and details about past events sponsored and hosted by MHEC.
National Coordination on Open Education: A Community Conversation Series
Open education has grown from an idea to a scholarly practice and professional field, yet faces new challenges as the marketplace and technology evolve. This spring, DOERS, SPARC, and the regional interstate higher education compacts (MHEC, NEBHE, SREB and WICHE) organized an open webinar series to discuss potential strategies to advance open education work nationally. These conversations found strong interest in greater coordination to address common needs such as funding, recognition, and advocacy. With an opportunity to secure grant funding to organize some of this work, we are holding a second conversation series to discuss potential priorities and next steps for a national coordination effort.
All who are interested in open education are invited to join these conversations. To accommodate different schedules, we will offer three options, followed by a report-out of the results.
Community Conversation: National Coordination on Open Education (Choose One)
Option 1: Tuesday, September 24: Noon CT
Option 2: Wednesday, October 2: 1:00 p.m. CT
Option 3: Thursday, October 17, 1:00 p.m. CT
Report Out: National Coordination on Open Education
Tuesday, October 29, 1:00 p.m. CT
Webinars will begin with a brief presentation followed by a group exercise to provide written input on key questions. The last 20 minutes will be optional breakout room discussions.
If you are interested in receiving additional updates about this initiative, please complete this form.
