LibGuides: Open Educational Resources (OER): Free the Textbook: Why OER?

Cost of textbooks

What We Are Doing about the High Cost of Textbooks -The AIM Editorial Board
American Mathematical Society Editorial Board. (2013). What we are doing about the high cost of textbooks, Notices of the AMS 60 (7). Retrieved from http://www.ams.org/
Why Textbook Prices Keep Climbing
NPR Planet Money Episode - October 3, 2014
Includes short interviews with an economist, a textbook author, and a textbook corporation CEO.
--15 minutes
What is Holding Back the Rise of Digital Textbooks?
Though one-to-one computing programs continue to grow, particularly in higher education, K-12 school districts have been slow to adopt digital textbooks and curricula, often citing concerns like cost of annual updates.
OER Adoption Impact Calculator
The OER Adoption Impact Calculator helps you understand many of the potential impacts of adopting OER instead of traditionally copyrighted learning materials. The values in the Settings on the left are set to defaults based on published research. Change the Settings so that they match the situation at your institution in order to see how replacing traditionally copyrighted materials with OER might benefit your students and institution. The information will update in real time as you make changes.

Impact on Student Success

Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis
The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics (PDF)
Colvard, N. B., & Watson, C. E. (2018). The impact of open educational resources on various student success metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-275
Do OER textbooks have value to students beyond cost savings? Addressing the issue of how textbooks can be used to foster student success
While much of the attention by the OER community has been focused in recent years on reducing student textbook costs through the development of openly licensed works, an issue that has often been ignored is whether students are actually using them.

Benefits to educators

The idea of open pedagogy suggests "instead of using disposable assignments that offer no value to the student or the instructors, your students, under your direction and supervision, can build a resource designed to improve the learning space for future students." (from https://open.bccampus.ca/what-is-open-education/what-is-open-pedagogy/)

In addition to developing a cultural of open pedagogy, other advantages of using OERs include:

expanded access to learning. Students anywhere in the world can access OERs at any time, and they can access the material repeatedly.
scalability. OERs are easy to distribute widely with little or no cost.
augmentation of class materials. OERs can supplement textbooks and lectures where deficiencies in information are evident.
enhancement of regular course content. For example, multimedia material such as videos can accompany text. Presenting information in multiple formats may help students to more easily learn the material being taught.
quick circulation. Information may be disseminated rapidly (especially when compared to information published in textbooks or journals, which may take months or even years to become available). Quick availability of material may increase the timeliness and/or relevance of the material being presented.
showcasing of innovation and talent. A wide audience may learn of faculty research interests and expertise. Potential students and donors may be impressed, and student and faculty recruitment efforts may be enhanced.
ties for alumni. OERs provide an excellent way for alumni to stay connected to the institution and continue with a program of lifelong learning.
continually improved resources. Unlike textbooks and other static sources of information, OERs can be improved quickly through direct editing by users or through solicitation and incorporation of user feedback. Instructors can take an existing OER, adapt it for a class, and make the modified OER available for others to use.

(From https://oer.psu.edu/benefits-of-using-oer)

OER-enabled pedagogy
The purpose of this page is to provide a list of concrete examples of how OER-enabled pedagogy, is implemented in the real world.
Open Pedagogy Examples
This page includes several examples of open pedagogy assessments.
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) is a refereed, open access e-journal that disseminates original research, theory, and best practice in open and distributed learning worldwide.
Open Pedagogy as a High Impact Practice

Universal access to information & multiple perspectives

More Than Free: Equity in Open Educational Resources
Faculty creation and adoption of OER and ZTC materials can provide students with benefits that extend beyond no-cost or low-cost considerations.
OER, Cultural Relevance, and Equity
As the next generation experiences greater globalization, the commitments remind us that students will inevitably encounter diverse perspectives and worldviews, and must be able to receive and share ideas utilizing their critical thinking skills.
Localization and OER
In the context of OER, localization refers to the process of taking educational resources developed for one context and adapting them for other contexts. These contexts can, for example, be geographical, pedagogical, political, or technical.
How open educational resources are coming of age: Keys to personalizing and sustaining open educational resources in your school district
Why Universal Access to Information Matters

Open Educational Resources (OER): Free the Textbook

Current Research About OER

Ferris 2018 OER Survey

Cost of textbooks

Impact on Student Success

Benefits to educators

Universal access to information & multiple perspectives