Home > Share > How To

How To

The OpenCourseWare Consortium encourages the creation of OpenCourseWare projects at institutions around the world. If you are considering proposing an OpenCourseWare project, the Consortium can help. We've collected and distilled our experiences in creating OpenCourseWare initiatives in this section of our site, and we can provide some individualized consulting to help get your project off the ground

The items below represent key considerations for schools considering creating their own OpenCourseWare project:

Making the Case – To be sure, there are hurdles to mounting an OpenCourseWare effort, and people will raise legitimate concerns. An OpenCourseWare initiative, however, provides demonstrable benefits to the publishing institution and fulfills the public service mission of higher education institutions. A key success factor in creating an OpenCourseWare is developing passionate proponents to champion the idea at your institution.

Intellectual Property and Licensing – Intellectual property (IP) issues may seem to be among the most daunting challenges to an OpenCourseWare project.  The projects underway have demonstrated that intellectual property issues are quite manageable.

Organization – Organize and staff your OpenCourseWare according to the scope of the effort. Most functions may already exist at your institution — leverage them when possible.

Publication Process – Set clear goals on the scope and character of your OpenCourseWare. Factors that will drive the size and complexity of the publishing process include whether you publish all courses or just exemplars, and how much you repackage materials for external audiences.

Technology – The type of technology infrastructure required for your OpenCourseWare depends on several factors, including your publishing goals and existing systems infrastructure on your campus. Open source tools are available to support your open publishing project.

Communication and Evaluation – Often overlooked in planning, communication and evaluation are key steps to ensure support for your project. Clearly communicating the vision of the project to both internal and external audiences, as well as reporting on the project's benefits both to the world and to your institution, will ensure long-term buy-in from key stakeholders.

For further assistance in planning an OpenCourseWare, please contact us at feedback@ocwconsortium.org.