Open Education Global has been operating for over fifteen years. Formally launched in 2008, OE Global was initially rooted in open courseware and was named the Open Courseware Consortium (OCWC). The organization was established as a non-profit organization in the State of Massachusetts because of the proximity and close relationship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT OpenCourseWare.
In 2014, the focus expanded to the broader vision of open education that included other members and forms of open education beyond open courseware, resulting in a name change to the Open Education Consortium. The vision broadened to include advocacy and leadership around advancing open education globally, developing open policy, creating sustainable open education models, and enabling international collaboration and innovation.
In 2019, in consultation with members about strategy and priorities, it became apparent that our biggest value proposition is the global perspective on open education. In recognition of this, our name was changed to Open Education Global (OE Global) to clearly reflect our role in supporting open education globally across all sectors.