Open Educational Resources (OER)

College textbooks are expensive, which can cause hardship for students. Here are some recent findings (2024) from the Education Data Initiative:

• The average price of textbooks is rising at 3 times the rate of inflation.
• 25% of students reported they worked extra hours to pay for books and course materials, and 11% skipped meals to afford books and materials.
• 65% of students did not buy textbooks at all because they were too expensive.

Textbook affordability is an equity issue. According to a study by Jenkins et al. (2020), textbook affordability is a matter of social justice. Historically underserved college students -- first-generation students, students belonging to racial/ethnic minority groups, and/or students from low-income backgrounds -- are the most affected by high textbook prices. The use of OER can have a significant positive impact on academic success and retention for these students. 

• OER are customizable. OER are assigned a Creative Commons (CC) license that legally allows others to adapt and modify the work. Instructors can tailor OER to their courses and specific learning outcomes by editing, adding, or deleting content. Instructors may also mix and match sections or resources from different OER to best suit their needs.
• OER improve access to educational materials. OER on a variety of topics can be accessed anywhere, anytime with an Internet connection. Learners have instant access on the first day of class (or before) and can refer back to OER after the course has ended.
• OER are accessible for different learning styles and abilities. Many OER accommodate learners with disabilities and implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Or, they can be modified for greater accessibility. OER are available in digital formats and can be printed, so learners can use OER based on their own preferences.

• A variety of learning resources and innovative pedagogy. OER encompasses a wide variety of learning resources beyond the textbook. OER can be digital books, but they are also modules, interactive learning tools, multimedia (video or audio), and more. Additionally, OER can take the form of open pedagogy, which empowers learners to contribute their knowledge to the commons. Instructors can use OER to facilitate active learning, and in the way that best suits their pedagogical goals.
• OER advances student success and retention. A large-scale study (Colvard et al., 2018) found that the use of OER improves student grades and decreases drop, fail, withdrawal (DFW) rates, especially for historically underserved students.

If you are a course instructor or faculty member, adopting, adapting, or creating OER can contribute to your professional development in several ways:

• Dissemination and impact. If you adapt or create an OER, you can claim authorship and share the OER using a Creative Commons open license. The OER can be shared in UAH's institutional repository, LOUIS, so that it can be widely discovered and used by educators and learners anywhere in the world. 
• The scholarship of teaching and learning. OER adaptation or creation can be considered research in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) field. Your OER development, related pedagogical practices, and their effects can form the basis of a conference presentation or scholarly journal article.
• Promotion and tenure. While specific promotion and tenure (P&T) requirements may differ according to institution, college, and department, P&T for faculty typically requires research, teaching, and service. OER use or development may be counted towards one or more of these categories. See this handout on how you can align OER work with institutional requirements for P&T.