CORRECTION: The previous headline of this story did not clarify the story was an opinion piece.
LBCC’s Open Educational Resources (OER) systems should be utilized by more professors to guarantee free and personalized courses for students.
Since the fall of 2015, LBCC has allowed professors to make free OER textbooks that utilize peer reviewed resources for their classes, but many professors still ask students to spend on textbooks.
Textbooks in college have been an expected expense for any college student.
According to EducationData.org using data from the National Center for Educational Data Center, community college students pay over $200 more on average than a four-year institution student from 2022-2023.
Money that can go into necessities are instead used for textbooks that often aren’t required to be read completely, creating excess costs that are net negatives.
In the class enrollment period before any semester, students often fill rosters for professors that have their class labeled with “Zero-Textbook Cost”, which means they use OER materials rather than standard textbooks.
The same exact classes with textbook costs tend to have less enrolled students when registrations begin, which can be seen before enrolling in any class on the LBCC registration page of the Viking Student System.
Therefore, it can be argued that a course with OER materials rather than textbooks attracts more students.
The process of receiving paid textbooks, which can have low availability both on and off campus, is another annoyance that can be avoided with a free online OER textbook.
Arguably the second best aspect of OER materials for both students is the possibility of improvement.
After working on their OER textbook to a suitable level, professors can ask for feedback from students who take their class for suggestions and edits.
This allows for a much more personal learning experience that comes at no expense for students, unlike most paid course readings.
LBCC offers a free canvas course on creating a OER textbook for interested instructors and grants that support “high-impact, culturally relevant/inclusive, collaborative projects.”
Although some classes at LBCC are already textbook cost free, it would benefit students if more professors had their own OER textbook.
