Iterating Toward Openness

AUGUST 31, 2022

This article started out with my being bothered by the fact that ‘OER adoption reliably saves students money but does not reliably improve their outcomes.’ ’ For many years OER advocates have told faculty, “When you adopt OER your students save money and get the same or better outcomes!”

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OER Outcomes Comparison Study 153

Iterating Toward Openness

MARCH 4, 2024

However, inclusive access and equitable access aren’t the only models that automatically charge students a fee for their course materials. Many institutions charge students a fee associated with their OER courses as a way of funding the institutions’ OER efforts.

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OER Advocacy Policies Course 91

Iterating Toward Openness

MARCH 21, 2023

At some point over the last decade, open educational resources (OER) advocacy in US higher education became zero textbook costs (ZTC) advocacy. This is why I refer to this line of advocacy as “free no matter the cost.” Is there a role for OER in this emerging learning materials landscape? We can hope.

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OER Advocacy Outcomes Instructional Materials 109

Iterating Toward Openness

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

There’s great news out of the recent UNESCO meeting in Paris, where member states unanimously adopted the draft Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER). This dramatically simplifies understanding what is and isn’t OER. This dramatically simplifies understanding what is and isn’t OER. emphasis added).

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OER Advocacy Resources Accessibility 120

Iterating Toward Openness

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

My recent post about the cost trap and inclusive access prompted responses by Jim Groom and Stephen Downes. Back in 2012 – 2013] I was impressed (like many others I’m sure) with how Wiley was able to frame the cost-savings argument around open textbooks to build broader interest for OERs. I fear it is OER wanting it both ways.

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Accessibility OER Pearson MOOC 63

Iterating Toward Openness

MAY 8, 2019

The most recent issue of IRRODL included an article titled Effectiveness of OER Use in First-Year Higher Education Students’ Mathematical Course Performance: A Case Study , by Juan I. This was justified by the fact that there is a lack of empirical evidence to support expanding the use of OER. Venegas-Muggli and Werner Westermann.

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Khan Academy OER Case Study System 106

Iterating Toward Openness

OCTOBER 30, 2017

There was a lot of discussion at OpenEd17 about the relationship between OER and value-added services like platforms. Most faculty don’t have the technical expertise, the time, or the institutional support to manage their own WordPress installation or do anything more with OER than adopt a free PDF in place of their textbook.

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OER LMS Learning Moodle 60