Dive Brief:
- The University of Georgia adopted open educational resources for a number of its courses since 2013 and is now approaching the $2 million mark in projected savings from the effort.
- Campus Technology reports that the university has focused on courses with large enrollments to get the most impact from switching to free educational materials and maximize savings for students.
- Georgia’s resources come from the California State University’s MERLOT library, as well as OpenStax College and eCore.
Dive Insight:
During the 2013-14 school year, 2,030 students in Biology courses were the first to benefit from the open education resources initiative. They have been following up by thousands more students in history, education, psychology, sociology, and theater, among other courses. In total, 21,436 students have saved $1,977,832, according to the university.
A case at the California State University at Fullerton has been watched by OER proponents. Math professor Alain Bourget assigned a $75 textbook and free online materials instead of the $180 textbook chosen by his department for the course and got an official reprimand for the action. Onlookers see it as a situation that could bring OER more high-profile attention and help more departments consider such materials in the future.