Washington, D.C. — The textbook-laden terrain of higher education could become easier and less expensive to traverse as more institutions embrace Open Educational Resources, or OER.
That was one of scenarios explored during a panel discussion on Tuesday that sought to delineate how the evolution of the digital materials could turn the tide on traditional textbooks — and potentially put an end to the pricey bookstore experience that has long been the bane of college students of modest means.
“We desperately need to see if this is working for people, making college more affordable and giving students the knowledge and skills they need to drive this knowledge economy going forward,” Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter said Tuesday at the event titled “Open Source Higher Education: What Is It and Who Is It For?”
The gathering was held at the Center for American Progress, or CAP, and led by Louis Soares, outgoing director of the Postsecondary Education Program at CAP.
Open Educational Resources includes course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, podcasts and other materials designed for teaching and learning that are “openly available for use by educators and students, without any accompanying need to pay royalties or license fees,” according to a primer distributed at Tuesday’s event.
OER involves more than making materials accessible in digital form.
Rather, according to the CAP primer, “OER gives the user free (no-cost) access to educational resources along with permission to revise, reuse, remix and redistribute the content of those educational resources.”
The potential for having a work changed drew criticism from one academic in the audience, who likened the modification of one of his texts to drawing a mustache on a great painting.
“It’s my work,” the academic said. “The world may think it’s an improvement, but I may not.”
