As the rising cost of college textbooks has outpaced both inflation and increases in tuition fees, this expense has created a significant barrier to student learning. Some instructors have adopted or created open educational resources, meaning materials which are freely and openly available. While the most obvious benefit of open course content…

Evidence exists that American institutions of higher education are well-entrenched in the consideration of mechanisms for supporting the implementation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and alternative textbooks. Literature reveals that developing and implementing OER is a significant undertaking in terms of time and human resources. This study…

The explosion of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in the recent years creates the demand for scalable, automatic approaches to process and evaluate OERs, with the end goal of identifying and recommending the most suitable educational materials for learners. We focus on building models to find the characteristics and features involved in…

In this article, the developers of seven Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs), Icelandic Online (IOL, https://icelandiconline.com/), describe the technological and pedagogical principles that have contributed to the program's longevity. Development began in 2001 with a courseware system later upgraded to a multiplatform app. Over 80,000…

Courses at the postsecondary level continue to rely heavily on visual material that is accessible only to fully or partially sighted students. Tactile graphics work for many pedagogical purposes, but in some cases are insufficient; other information and concepts may be better conveyed through haptic exploration of 3D printed objects. However,…

COVID-19, in addition to disrupting the global education system in general, is widening the economic and racial gaps institutions have spent years trying to address. The economic reality is that students who work to support themselves, their families, and purchase educational materials needed to succeed have been disproportionately harmed. This…

Open Educational Resources (OER) are geared towards promoting accessibility to education and to help overcome certain constraints to education associated with traditional ways of learning. However, these OERs can only be successfully rolled out and utilised in environments already enjoying certain infrastructural empowerments, including…

Recognizing that higher education settings vary considerably, librarians at Gettysburg College sought to better understand textbook spending behaviors and the effects of costs on our students. We adapted the Florida Virtual Campus 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey to suit the context of our small, private, liberal arts college.…

Students acting as co-creators of academic material is growing in popularity as a pedagogical approach in higher education. With student engagement and persistence consistently being emphasized for student and institution well-being, educational praxis must foster engaged, high-retention student cohorts. This exploratory research uses a…

While open educational resources (OER) have gained popularity, nearly three quarters of faculty are not aware they are available for use. However, when used, they are well received and do not negatively impact quality of learning. OER can be used within a variety of platforms, including software that aims to be more interactive and engage students…

This study evaluated a coordinated and collaborative pilot implementation of open educational resources (OER) across multiple disciplines including nursing, accounting, environmental science, religious studies, and finance. Participating faculty were qualitatively surveyed regarding their experience creating and implementing OER in a course.…

Open educational resources (OERs) are an alternative textbook to publisher materials used by colleges and universities. OER materials have a cost advantage for students; many are published as free or cost-reduced textbooks for students. The authors developed and piloted an OER textbook for Business Law I in the Management program of the School of…

The purpose of this instrumental qualitative case study was to address the challenges that community college professors face when curating or creating high-quality and low- or no-cost open educational resources (OERs), the accessibility of the resources, and the impact OER has on student success and social justice in education. The goal of this…

A librarian-led Faculty Learning Community (FLC) focused on Open Educational Resources (OER) can be a practical, low risk way to sustain campus-based OER programs during and after initial start-up. Creating a space for sharing teaching successes and challenges is an important goal in the iterative journey toward open. The experiences and trust…

Governments have the opportunity to influence policy in education and to facilitate funding to support its implementation. This document contains seven recommendations made to the Government of Canada as part of its public consultation in developing its federal budget. It was developed with input from both members and public contributors involved…