Why Use OER?

The Benefits

  • Save students money
    • Note: Senate Bill 1359, (Block, 2016) requires California Community Colleges to include a symbol/logo in the online version of the campus course schedule by January 1, 2018, for courses that exclusively use digital course materials that are free of charge to students and therefore not required to be purchased.
    •  
    • Equity: All students have free access to course materials on Day 1
    • Allow for flexible content (customize, personalize, mix-and-match)
    • Instructor, not publisher, is in control of content
    • Accessible on multiple mediums
    • Preliminary research Links to an external site. shows that OER may improve success and retention rates, as well as enrollment (textbook savings used to enroll in additional courses)

    Graph showing rising textbook costs

    The New Era of the $400 College Textbook Links to an external site., Mark J. Perry, 26 July 2015, AEIdeas

    The Challenges

    • Time required to find OER and revise course content
    • Perspectives on print vs. online reading

    Example: OpenStax