Affordable & open educational resources

A young female student sitting on sofa, using laptop when studying

In 2021-2022, first-year, full-time undergraduates in the US spent an average of $1,215 on textbooks and course supplies (Best Colleges, 2023). The cost of course materials impacts students' success and learning in many ways: it influences their course selection (up to 66% of students; “Fixing the Broken Textbook Market, Second Edition." PIRG, 2020), can cause them to work extra hours (25% in 2020) or even pushes some to skip meals to afford materials (11% in 2020). When selecting materials for your course, we encourage you to consider low-cost or free options to remove this financial barrier, making the learning experience more accessible and inclusive.

Instructors at Mizzou have several options to lower the cost of their course materials:

The AutoAccess program automatically provides students enrolled in a course with required digital course materials or courseware from select publishers. Materials are available through Canvas from day one at a lower cost.

Important considerations:

  • AutoAccess options limit access to course materials to a few semesters or less; students cannot keep or sell their textbooks, nor buy used ones at a lower cost. The Mizzou Store can provide low-cost print options available to students on demand. Contact the Mizzou Store to set it up.
  • Students are charged automatically for AutoAccess unless they opt out. It is important to provide clear instructions to students and make the opt-out process transparent. Consider sharing the following resources somewhere prominent for your students:

The cost of using library resources is folded into students’ tuition, and as such, those resources are available to them at no additional cost. Librarians can help you curate materials, set aside digital or print resources for your students in their library reserve, provide resource guides for your discipline and more.

Open educational resources (OER) are materials available to students that are intended to be shared freely and are often open to be modified by others (typically through Creative Commons licensing). You can select existing OER to re-use or adapt, or you can create your own from scratch. Both options allow you to customize your course's materials to meet your learning objectives and context. Include an OER statement in your syllabus to explain the reasons you chose OER for your course and the benefits to students.

OER Commons and MERLOT are two of many digital libraries with extensive collections of open course materials. Check out our three-hour self-paced sprint, Open Educational Resources (OER) and open pedagogy, to learn more!

  • Did you know? The UM System has a license to the Pressbooks publishing platform, which includes interactive H5P activities.
  • Did you know? Everyone’s doing OER! OER are becoming increasingly popular among instructors. In 2021-2022, 22% of faculty were using OER for their required course materials, from 5% in 2015-2016 (Seaman & Seaman, 2023). You don’t want to miss out on this growing trend!

Are you ready to get started with OER, or are you itching to know more? These OER Allies can help!

Your OER Allies at Mizzou

Mizzou Libraries can help you:

  • Locate, evaluate, curate, adapt and/or create OER.
  • Choose the appropriate Creative Commons license or ensure compliance with the licensing of the materials you use.
  • Curate library educational resources (at no additional cost to students).
  • Find a permanent home for your OER (using the university repository).

Resources and contact: Open Educational Resources Library Guide

Instructional designers can help you:

  • Design OER activities, content, and assessments aligned with your course’s learning objectives.
  • Incorporate UDL, active learning and other relevant pedagogical principles into your OER.
  • Ensure that your OER is accessible and inclusive.
  • Design open pedagogy activities.

Contact: teachingonline@missouri.edu

Academic Technology support staff can help you:

  • Use university-supported tools to host your OER (Canvas, Pressbooks, etc.).
  • Design interactive content for your OER using university-supported technology.

Contact: at@umsystem.edu

The Mizzou Store can provide affordable print versions of your OER on demand. Print options are especially helpful for students with poor internet access and those who prefer hard copies.

Contact: The Mizzou Store

Check out the following sprint to learn more about OER at Mizzou, strategies to implement them, and Mizzou Online-supported tech tools you can use to enhance them.

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