NCOER is a partnership of the four higher education regional compacts focused on increasing access, affordability, and equity of open educational resources (OER). OER are high-quality teaching and learning materials that are free for educators and students to use, customize, and share. These partners engage new opportunities to 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.
WCET – the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, leads the collaborative efforts of the NCOER Network by facilitating work between the four compacts: Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). This partnership expands current OER efforts in each region, which are led by each specific compact.
The regional compacts are trusted resources and share a common responsibility for assisting and promoting the adoption and scaling of open education. Each has a structure in place with staff highly knowledgeable in policy and practice. Through involvement in one or more of the four compacts, potentially all 50 states, the District of Columbia, territories, and freely associated states may participate in the NCOER Network. The compacts are uniquely positioned to work with their members to explore the value of OER, and WCET’s role as convener makes processes more streamlined.
Program Specialist for Open Educational Resources (OER), Southern Regional Education Board
Vice President, Policy Analysis and Research, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education