This content was published: January 19, 2016. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Adopt OER, save students money
Posted by Andy Freed
As of January 19th, instructors at PCC who have adopted free and/or Open Education Resources (OER) are saving students nearly $90,000 per term on textbook and material costs. That’s a great start, but the OER interest group at PCC is aiming to save students one million dollars by the fall of 2017. What are OER and why is PCC doing this? There are many reasons, but I think this intro from Open Oregon answers better than I can.
At PCC, many faculty have already selected course material that they feel adequately meet the instructional rigor needed for their courses but don’t require expensive textbooks or materials. These instructors are passionate about their subjects and passionate about supporting student success. Does supporting student success interest you? Are you curious about what open content might be available for your discipline? You’ll be happy to know that our own library has a guide for Open Education Resources, and it’s a great place to get started.
Are you already using OER in an online class? Please share it with us.
About Andy Freed
I'm the Director of Learning Technology & Innovation (LTI!), where I oversee our infrastructure, technical support, and online student services teams. I've been with the College since 2001 and have worked in several positions, from tech... more »
thank you! and thanks for the timing! I’m a new faculty member and I’m getting my bearings. For this first term, i was frustrated that I was forced to order the most current edition of my textbooks, because I was hoping to save students money by using a previous edition.
I only recently found out that I could skip textbooks altogether, and this post helped me feel confident that I could find quality materials to replace them. thanks for the help!
Thanks. Can you provide a list of courses being offered at PCC using OER? I teach Foods & Nutrition and I am very interested in this. However, I have to say that the current offerings I have uncovered for Nutrition texts via OER are quite limited, especially with respect to diagrams and illustrations. I have not felt I could use the materials currently available.
Hi Debra, here’s a list of courses currently using OER that have reported it. I’d suggest contacting your subject librarian, Sara Robertson
Thanks. Appreciate the link.