OER Talk @ University of Maryland #OAweek

@txtbks | sparcopen.org
textbook
cost crisis
nicole allen SPARC
Except where otherwise
noted...
theOER and solving
University of Maryland | 10/25/16 | College Park, MD

@txtbks
www.slideshare.com/txtbks
www.sparcopen.org

#OAweek >> openaccessweek.org

@txtbks | sparcopen.orgData Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Cost Factors:
Tuition and Fees
Room and Board
Transportation
Books and Supplies
Other Expenses
Cost Factors:
Books and Supplies

Average Estimated Full-Time Undergraduate
Budgets (Enrollment-Weighted)
Books & Supplies:
$1,364 @ Public Two-Year
$1,298 @ Public Four-Year

“the straw that broke the
camel’s back”

oer.umd.edu

but why?

Captive Market

Near-Monopoly
5 major
publishers hold
nearly 90% of
the market
Source: Turning the Page by James Koch

Signs of Failure
Source: NACS.org

2 in 3
Students say they decided against
buying a textbook because the cost is
too high
Source: Student PIRGs

1 in 2
Students say they have at some point
taken fewer courses due to the cost of
textbooks
Source: Florida Virtual Campus

<1 in 2
Students purchase a current
edition of their textbook
Source: Book Industry Study Group

students cannot
learn from books
they can’t afford

we can do better.

OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES

OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES

OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
Free + Reuse Rights
• Retain
• Reuse
• Revise
• Remix
• Redistribute

Hewlett Foundation Definition:
“OER are teaching, learning, and
research resources that reside in the
public domain or are released under an
intellectual property license that permits
their free use and repurposing by
others”

open licensing system
www.creativecommons.org

use © to enable
free
& open use

most
open
least
open
OER

tour of the
OER space

oerworldmap.org

ocw.mit.edu

oercommons.org

openstax.org

openbookpublishers.org

plos.org

oli.cmu.edu

skillscommons.org

#GoOpen >> open.oet.ed.gov

examples of
OER impact

Award winning statistics text

• Higher or equivalent grades
• Higher average credit load
• Higher or equivalent completion rates
openedgroup.org

The cost of college textbooks has risen 812% since 1978, more
than the rates of inflation, health care, new home prices, and
college tuition.
More and more, college students are unable to afford their
textbooks, and as many as 70% of students have reported
avoiding buying at least one textbook for their courses. Not
surprisingly, these students do not do as well academically.
As of May 2013, if a TCC student purchased all of the textbooks
required for a business administration degree, that student would
spend $3,678.95 on new books. While used textbooks may lower
this price, their availability is, at best, uneven.
But the problem with printed textbooks goes beyond financial cost; textbooks “ cost” students and teachers
in other ways as well.
Because textbooks are frequently written for broad audiences in the hopes that they will fill the learning
support needs and be adopted by large numbers of faculty and departments, they are filled with content
and exercises that are superfluous to a specific course’ s learning outcomes. The cost here is in teaching
efficiency and effectiveness.
Fortunately a solution to both problems exists.
Beginning in Fall 2013, TCC became the first college in the U.S. to create an Associate of Science degree
based solely on open educational resources (OER), academically vetted and publicly licensed content. After
Tidewater CommunityCollege
ismakingcollegemoreaffordable.

achievingthedream.org

affordablelearninggeorgia.org

pm4id.org

what can
you do?

(1) make sharing easy

(2) consider OER
before traditional
materials

lib.guides.umd.edu/oer

open.umn.edu

using OER in 1 course per year could
save US students
$1.42
billion

(3) support faculty to
adopt, adapt, and
create OER

Libraries & OER Forum
LibOER.org
#LibOER

(4) connect “open” to
your mission

“The mission of the University of
Maryland, College Park is to provide
excellent teaching, research, and
service. The University educates
students and advances knowledge in
areas of importance to the State, the
nation, and the world.”

Nicole Allen
nicole@sparcopen.org
@txtbks | @sparc_na
www.sparcopen.org

OER Talk @ University of Maryland #OAweek

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OER Talk @ University of Maryland #OAweek