OER Commons

Mission:
OER Commons, created by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), is a nonprofit digital public library and collaboration platform dedicated to participatory, equitable, and open education for all. The organization is rooted in the belief that access to high-quality education is a human right and aims to foster systemic change in teaching and learning through open educational resources (OER).

Services and Offerings:

• OER Commons Platform: Provides free access to a growing collection of over 50,000 high-quality open educational resources, including full university courses, open textbooks, K-12 lesson plans, worksheets, activities, and climate education resources.
• Custom Hubs: Offers customizable, branded resource centers (Hubs) for organizations, districts, and states to curate, organize, and share OER collections, administer groups, and disseminate news and events.
• Content Curation and Library Services: Assists organizations in designing Hubs, developing content collections, and ensuring resources are vetted by digital librarian staff. Bulk import workflows are available for existing collections.
• Group Collaboration: Facilitates the creation of flexible groups for educators to collaborate, recommend, and discover resources, ranging from small study groups to district-wide curriculum initiatives.
• LTI Integrations: Provides tools to integrate OER Commons resources with various Learning Management Systems (LMS), enhancing accessibility for educators and students.
• Professional Learning: Delivers learning packages, workshops, academies, and convenings to build competencies in instructional design, curriculum development, advocacy, and initiative building.
• Content Management and Discoverability: Offers curation, metadata services, and integration solutions to make educational materials easily discoverable and contextually relevant.
• Consulting and Research: Provides expert consulting, toolkits, guides, and targeted research to support the launch, evaluation, and innovation of OER initiatives.

Who They Serve:

OER Commons serves educators, curriculum experts, instructors, and learners at all levels, including K-12 and higher education. The platform is accessible to individuals and organizations worldwide, including those in Louisa County, VA, and surrounding regions, as all resources are available online without geographic restriction.

Eligibility and Access:

• All resources and basic platform features are free and open to the public.
• Organizations seeking tailored services, custom Hubs, or professional development may engage ISKME for at-cost services.

Additional Information:

OER Commons is supported in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and collaborates with a wide range of partner organizations to advance the field of open education. The platform emphasizes collaboration, continuous improvement, and sustainability in educational practice.