About the OCW Consortium

The OpenCourseWareConsortium is a worldwide community of hundreds of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWare and its impact on global education. We serve as a resource for starting and sustaining OCW projects, as a coordinating body for the movement on a global scale, and as a forum for exchange of ideas and future planning.

Our Vision

We envision a world in which the desire to learn is fully met by the opportunity to do so anywhere in the world - where everyone, everywhere is able to access affordable, educationally and culturally appropriate opportunities to gain whatever knowledge or training they desire.

The Consortium acts to realize this vision by addressing one issue - that of access to high‐quality educational materials - and by partnering with organizations addressing related problems that must also be solved to make this vision a reality.

Our Mission

The mission of the OCW Consortium is to serve both the individuals who use OCW and the institutions that make OCW possible. The Consortium provides a gateway to OCW projects and courses for the entire OCW community, fostering the success of the OCW movement and articulating its benefits. Through its public-relations efforts, the Consortium educates general audiences about the movement, directing potential users to resources that best suit their needs. For members, the Consortium marshals broad expertise regarding the ongoing development of open education projects and connects its members with an even broader network of OER practitioners.

Member Benefits

While the OCW Consortium does provide many benefits to members and non-members alike, our members enjoy the particularly strong support from the Consortium's network of experts, including:

Consultation: Priority Access to resources such as the OCW Toolkit, Experts Forum, and Webinars for development of projects and project personnel.

Collaboration: Administrative support and meeting space for Working Groups and Communities of Interest.

Collective Visibility: International recognition and exposure through the Consortium’s website and through shared media exposure, both of which can direct and increase traffic to your OCW site and your organization.

Sustainability: Joint international effort to insure that the open sharing of educational resources has a productive future.