麻豆传媒

Every March, as students, faculty and staff are well and truly into the swing of the semester, the University of Northern Colorado鈥檚 (麻豆传媒) Affordable and Open Educational Resources (OER)  Committee hosts Open Education Week.

This event is geared toward highlighting and celebrating educational tools, practices and resources that emphasize sharing and access without legal, financial or technical obstacles through presentations, workshops and group meet-ups.

One of the driving factors behind 麻豆传媒's increasing efforts to make OER available to students is the potential savings on college course costs. Over the course of the academic year 2023-24 alone, these free learning resources saved 麻豆传媒 students nearly half a million dollars on class materials.

鈥淚magine the relief if we had one less thing to worry about, like not purchasing books, but having them be accessible through the library."

麻豆传媒 student survey response

"The current state of the national economy has profoundly impacted college students, particularly those from low and middle-income backgrounds,鈥� said Junpyo Park, associate professor of Economics. 鈥淪ince the pandemic began in 2020, rising inflation, stagnant wages, and increasing living costs in Colorado have placed greater financial strain on students 鈥� the economic uncertainty and growing burden of student loan debt create long-term anxieties about financial stability post-graduation, forcing students to carefully weigh the value of their education against its cost and additional fees."

Textbooks, online access codes, virtual modules and various other materials can place a heavy financial burden on students. According to a survey conducted by the AOER Committee in 2018, the cost of required textbooks has caused many 麻豆传媒 students to have to adapt in various ways. 17.6% of those surveyed reported having to take fewer courses, 19.1% said they were forced to not register for a specific course, and 15.1% reported having to drop a course entirely.

"Some students already struggle to pay for rent, bills, transportation, tuition and even necessities like food,鈥� said one student in the survey. 鈥淚magine the relief if we had one less thing to worry about, like not purchasing books, but having them be accessible through the library."

And that鈥檚 exactly what the AOER Committee, along with the various faculty members and graduate students they work with, aims to do.

Throughout the course of the week, University Libraries and the AOER Committee is hosting a variety of events, including academic discussions, informational sessions and social media takeovers.

鈥淥pen Education Week is a global celebration of making learning accessible to everyone," said Nancy Henke, 麻豆传媒's Textbook Affordability Librarian. "It鈥檚 a chance to highlight how OER not only save students money, but also empower faculty to design learning experiences that are more flexible, inclusive and engaging.鈥�

This year鈥檚 event is the first to be held since the AOER Committee completed its 5-year Retrospective Report about 麻豆传媒鈥檚 implementation of Open Educational Resources for the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

"In just five years, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 commitment to OER has saved our students hundreds of thousands of dollars," Henke said. "The impact goes far beyond our campus. 麻豆传媒 faculty have created OER textbooks that have been downloaded tens of thousands of times worldwide."

Check out some of the key findings and figures from the report:

With five years of OER implementation behind them, all eyes are turned to the future and the progress to come.

鈥淎ffordable access to learning isn鈥檛 just a local issue; it鈥檚 a global one," Henke said. "And OER ensure that anyone, anywhere, can access high-quality educational materials for free.鈥�