The NC Education Cloud Program, funded by the Race to the Top grant, includes in its approved plan the creation of a Learning Object Repository (LOR) for the Local Education Agencies in the state.  The Learning Object Repository is for the staff, teachers and students in North Carolina.  A LOR provides cataloging and, if necessary, storage, for educational content and resources.  The type of content may include videos, assessments, lesson plans, teaching resources (primary or supplemental), or professional development training materials or entire courses.

In North Carolina there already exists a Learning Object Repository service, the NCLOR.  It is maintained and operated by the NC Community College System (NCCCS).  Its vision is to serve the K-20 educational community.  While the current focus is primarily higher education, it does serve a number of K-12 educators.

The NCLOR contains content for K-20 educators; additionally, the NCLOR staff at the NC Community College System has over 3 years of experience operating and managing the LOR software platform.  The existing NCLOR project is based on the Pearson EQUELLA product for which NCCCS has existing contracts and pricing structures in place.

The recommendation of the NC Education Cloud project team is to leverage this existing resource.  The NC Education Cloud team wishes to collaborate with the NC Community College System staff to assist in realizing the original vision of the NCLOR project, which is to provide a Learning Object Repository to all K-20 educators in North Carolina.

This collaboration allows for many levels of cost savings for North Carolina:

1. Shared hosting infrastructure;
2. Shared support , including help desk;
3. Shared licensing.

The NC Community College System has demonstrated the effectiveness of a LOR; the Race to the Top grant provides North Carolina the opportunity to extend that fully to our K-12 educators.