Open Educational Resources

K-12

Support the development of effective, standards-aligned open educational resources for teachers and students in the United States, and promote OER as a way to increase educational access and equity in the developing world.

Postsecondary education

Reduce the cost of college and increase the quality of pedagogy by ensuring that OER, including open textbooks, are freely available for postsecondary courses, and that OER-based degree pathways are widely accessible in community colleges.

Infrastructure investment

Support people and institutions promoting OER, research on OER effectiveness, and the technical basis for OER, including policy and advocacy, research, open licenses, interoperability, and accessibility standards.

In the United States, OER can fill key gaps in the market for instructional materials and offer educators innovative ways to engage students and exchange best practices. OER can provide up-to-date textbooks and curricula to meet new, higher academic standards. Community colleges are taking the lead in building degree pathways based exclusively on OER, easing the burden of textbook costs for many students and providing opportunities to improve instruction and learning.

Globally, the Hewlett Foundation is partnering with UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning to spread OER in different countries, engaging governments with ideas about how to apply OER in schools, and promoting access and equity in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.