OER Commons

What OER Commons does

OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources (OER), founded in 2007 and operated as a nonprofit project of ISKME (Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education), headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California. The platform serves K-12 educators, higher education instructors, adult education programs, school districts, state education departments, and educational organizations globally, enabling discovery, creation, remixing, and sharing of standards-aligned educational materials across all subject areas and grade levels from preschool through graduate education.

The underlying technology is a web-based digital library platform with advanced search and filtering by subject, grade level, standard (Common Core, NGSS), and material type. Core products include Open Author (a creation and publishing tool for standalone learning modules, lessons, assignments, assessments, and activities), Groups (collaborative environments with shared folders and collections), Hubs (custom resource centers for projects, districts, states, and initiatives), Collections (curated by digital librarians), and Microsites (custom-branded OER platforms with bespoke taxonomy at unique URLs). The platform supports SAML-based institutional single sign-on through integrations with ISKME GSuite, Nebraska Cloud Portal, and University of Missouri, and content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0. Strategic content partnerships with Illustrative Mathematics, CLEAN Network, TeachEngineering, National Geographic Society, PBS Education, Smithsonian Institution, CK-12, EngageNY, and PhET Interactive Simulations supply thousands of curated resources.

The business model is mission-driven and largely freemium: the platform is permanently free for all users, while revenue is generated through at-cost professional learning services (in-person and virtual OER workshops, consulting, and tailored institutional programs) and Microsites licensing. The organization employs 11-50 staff, has no disclosed external funding rounds, and is not venture-backed or publicly traded, operating instead as a nonprofit under ISKME. Specialized evaluation tools (EQuIP and OER Evaluation Tool) and award-winning professional development programs support institutions seeking structured OER adoption.

Name

OER Commons

Legal name

OER Commons

Website

https://oercommons.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OER Commons is a nonprofit public digital library of open educational resources founded in 2007 and operated by ISKME, serving K-12, higher education, and adult educators globally with creation, collaboration, and discovery tools, monetizing via at-cost professional learning services and custom Microsites.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Educational Resources Platform

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

OER Authoring, Remixing & Publishing Tools/Platforms (EDAGAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Curriculum Repositories (EDAFACAJ), OER Quality Review, Alignment & Certification (rubrics/standards) (EDAGAJAN), Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing (MPAJABAG)

Keywords

• Open educational resources
• Digital library platform
• OER professional development
• Curriculum collaboration tools
• Educational content curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Half Moon Bay

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Free Platform Access: OER Commons is free for all users permanently. The platform serves educational institutions at no cost for basic access to the digital library of open educational resources.
2. Professional Learning Services: Award-winning OER Professional Learning programs supporting instructors and curriculum specialists to gain skills required to find, adapt, and evaluate high quality open materials. Services include in-person and virtual OER workshops, consulting, and tailored institutional programs.
3. Institutional Services: Tailored and context-specific at-cost services for individual institutions, consortia, and organizations looking to have a more intentional impact on OER adoption and implementation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OER Commons is a public digital library of Open Educational Resources that allows educators worldwide to explore, create, and collaborate on curriculum materials at no cost. The platform offers the Open Author tool for building and publishing OER, curated Collections aligned to standards such as Common Core and NGSS, and collaborative features including Groups, Hubs, and Microsites. It also generates revenue through at-cost Professional Learning programs and tailored Institutional Services (workshops, consulting, microsite deployments) for districts, states, consortia, and organizations.

Product overview

OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources organized as a platform with multiple integrated products and services. The core platform (OER Commons) enables exploration, creation, and collaboration among educators worldwide. Key modules include Open Author for creating and publishing OER, Groups for collaboration and resource sharing, Collections curated by digital librarians, and Hubs for custom resource centers serving projects, districts, states, and initiatives. Microsites provide custom digital libraries with unique URLs and taxonomy. The platform also features specialized hubs including the STEM Literacy Hub (with NGSS alignment tools) and Common Core Hub (with Open Common Core Courses for grades 6-7 Math and 11-12 ELA). Additional features include Submit from Web for librarian review, evaluation tools (EQuIP and OER Evaluation Tool), and professional learning programs with in-person and virtual OER workshops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Open Author: A tool within OER Commons that helps educators build and publish Open Educational Resources
• Hubs
• Groups
• Collections

Products and services

• OER Commons Platform Public digital library of Open Educational Resources where K-12, higher education, and adult education educators explore, create, and collaborate to improve curriculum worldwide, with advanced search and filtering by subject, grade level, and standard.
• Open Author Standalone authoring tool that helps educators build and publish Open Educational Resources, including standalone learning modules, lessons, assignments, assessments, and activities.
• Microsites

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform supports K-12, higher education, and adult education levels across all subjects
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• ISKME (Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISKME is the parent organization that created OER Commons. OER Commons is a project of ISKME. ISKME operates OER Summits and hosts the platform infrastructure. The organization is committed to participatory, equitable, and open education for all.
• Illustrative MathematicsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIllustrative Mathematics provides mathematics curriculum and task resources to OER Commons, including 1141+ aligned resources. IM K-5 Math is a problem-based core curriculum available through the platform.
• CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness NetworkmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCLEAN provides climate and energy education resources to OER Commons, including 841+ curated resources covering oceanography, atmospheric science, and environmental studies.
• TeachEngineeringmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTeachEngineering provides NGSS-aligned engineering education resources including 1159+ records focused on STEM education and engineering design.
• National Geographic SocietymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational Geographic Society provides educational content through the PowerED hub and curated collections, including resources aligned to science and social studies standards.
• PBS EducationmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPBS Education provides educational media resources including 631+ curated resources for classroom use across various subjects.
• Smithsonian InstitutionmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSmithsonian Institution provides primary source and cultural heritage educational materials including 26+ curated resources.
• CK-12majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCK-12 provides STEM Flexbooks including 77+ open textbooks and learning resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
• EngageNYmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEngageNY provides 48 ELA resources and 152 mathematics resources aligned to Common Core State Standards, developed under New York State Education Department oversight.
• PhET Interactive Simulations (University of Colorado)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPhET provides 196 interactive simulations for science and mathematics education, developed by University of Colorado Boulder.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• PhET Interactive Simulations: PhET (University of Colorado Boulder) provides free, interactive STEM simulations for educators and is also represented as a content partner on OER Commons. While narrower in scope (simulations), it competes as a destination for free, high-quality STEM educational content.

Regional players

• BetterLesson: BetterLesson provides K-12 educators with curated lesson plans, professional development, and coaching, including free OER content. It competes with OER Commons in K-12 lesson sharing and professional learning services, though it leans more heavily on paid professional development.

Direct peers

• Curriki: Curriki is a nonprofit OER library offering free K-12 teaching resources with authoring and collaboration features. It competes head-to-head with OER Commons as a community-driven OER platform and similar nonprofit/open licensing model for educators.
• OpenStax: OpenStax (Rice University) publishes free, peer-reviewed open textbooks for higher education and operates an open educational resource hub. It directly overlaps with OER Commons as a destination for free, openly licensed teaching materials and is even featured as a group on the OER Commons platform.
• PBS LearningMedia: PBS LearningMedia is a free digital media library for educators offering standards-aligned videos, lesson plans, and interactives from PBS and partners. It directly competes with OER Commons as a destination for high-quality, curated instructional content for K-12 classrooms and is also a content partner on the platform.
• CK-12 Foundation: CK-12 is a nonprofit OER provider of STEM Flexbooks (textbooks, simulations, adaptive practice). CK-12 is also a content partner on OER Commons while operating its own free STEM-focused OER platform, making it a direct competitor in K-12 science and math OER.
• MIT OpenCourseWare: MIT OpenCourseWare is a free, openly licensed publication of virtually all MIT course materials. It serves the same digital-library-for-educators mission as OER Commons but is focused on higher-ed course content rather than K-12.
• MERLOT: MERLOT is a long-established free online library of peer-reviewed learning materials for higher education, with community reviews, author services, and curated collections. It directly parallels OER Commons's model of curated OER discovery, peer review, and educator community features.
• Smithsonian Learning Lab: The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering and creating learning resources drawn from Smithsonian collections. It overlaps directly with OER Commons as a free educator resource and content curation platform, and is also a content partner on OER Commons.

Broad incumbents

• Khan Academy: Khan Academy is a large, established nonprofit providing free educational content, practice, and teacher tools across K-14. While broader in scope (instructional videos and adaptive practice), it overlaps with OER Commons in serving free, standards-aligned educational content to schools and districts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/OER-Commons/197344756972678
• Xx.com/oercommons
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digital-esl

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OER Commons