The Hewlett Foundation advises that Open Educational Resources or OER are “teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaption, and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.” OER can include course content, textbooks, streamed content, assessments, and other learning materials. OER are not only a trending topic in higher education today but are powerfully impactful student success tools that help achieve more accessible, equitable, and inclusive educational opportunities and environments.
WCET’s Z Initiative (for zero cost resources) works with the regional compacts (WICHE, NEBHE, MHEC, SREB), state agencies, and higher education systems to conduct research, design grant programs and initiatives, and provide guidance on regional and statewide OER policy and project implementation.

WCET Resources
Frontiers Blog
Webcast Archives
Media
- WOW Award Winner 2019: OER Grant Program - Colorado Department of Higher Education OER Council
- WOW Award Winner 2019: Distance-Based Teacher Preparation - Granite State College
- WCET Interview with Paul Stacey, Creative Commons Part 1 (March 2016)
- WCET Interview with Paul Stacey, Creative Commons Part 2 (March 2016)
- WOW Award Winner 2015: Open Educational Resources Initative - University of Maryland University College
- WOW Award Winner 2014: OER-Based Associate Degree Project - Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) Extended Learning Ins…
- WOW Award Winner 2013: OER Faculty Fellowship - Lane Community College
Additional Resources
External Resources
Additional Resources
- Q&A with TJ Bliss: It’s an Exciting Time For Open Educational Resources
- BCcampus Open Textbook Project
- California Open Online Library for Education
- Hewlett Foundation
- ISKME OER Commons
- Merlot: Resources on OER and Accessibility
- OER Research Toolkit
- Of OER and Platforms: Five Years Later - Jan 2017, by David Wiley
- Open Education Consortium
- OpenStax
- Open Textbook Network
- SkillsCommons
- SPARC
- What Is OER? - Creative Commons