The Network for Open Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (NOTES) is an initiative of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) designed to strengthen teacher education by promoting the collaborative co-creation and use of Open Educational Resources (OER). The initiative emerged from studies that revealed widespread awareness of OER among educators, but limited practical application due to gaps in training, the absence of institutional policies, and a lack of contextualised materials.
NOTES aims to address these challenges through capacity building, policy development, and resource localisation. Beyond that it also seeks to establish a sustainable network of practice in open teacher education, anchored in African contexts and aligned with COL’s mission of learning for sustainable development.
NOTES Objectives
The initiative is informed by the principles of openness, collaboration, and contextual responsiveness, and includes both action-oriented engagements and a research component exploring emerging innovations such as generative AI in teacher-led resource adaptation.
NOTES Principles
NOTES is guided by COL's OER Teacher Education Framework Structure that aligns with the UNESCO 2017 OER Recommendation.
COL's OER Teacher Education Framework

The Network for Open Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (NOTES)