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CommunityCollegeLeagueofCalifornia 1

OpenEducationalResources(Information)

OpenEducationalResources(OER)arehigh‐qualityteachingandlearningresourcesthathave been released under an intellectual property license, such as a Creative Commonslicense,thatpermitstheirfreeuseandrepurposing.ExamplesofOERinclude:fullcourses,course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroomactivities,pedagogicalmaterials,games,simulations,andmanymoreresourcescontainedindigitalmediacollectionsfromaroundtheworld.BackgroundIn 2008, the California State Auditor released a report entitled, Affordability of CollegeTextbooks:TextbookPricesHaveRisenSignificantlyintheLastFourYears,butSomeStrategiesMayHelptoControlTheseCostsforStudents”(Report2007‐116).Theauditfoundthat,onaverage, a full‐time student pays between $700 and $900 annually for textbooks.1 Thereasonsforthehighcostofcollegetextbooksarevaried,andincludeincreasedcompetitionduetotheused‐textbookmarket;regularandminimalrevisionsthatmaynotbewarranted;andtheinclusionofsupplementalproducts,suchasCDsandinstructionalsupplements,thatraisethepriceandreducetheabilitytoreselltheseproductsintheused‐textbookmarket.Within its recommendations, theaudit report stated, “ThesystemofficesofUC,CSU,andcommunitycollegesshouldcontinuetakingstepstopromoteawareness,developmentandadoption of open educational resources as alternatives to textbooks and other learningmaterials.”Case lawhasdeterminedthat theFirstAmendmentprotectsa facultymember’sright tofreedomof speechandexpression,which includesacademic freedom.Academic freedomgivesfacultybroaddiscretionineducatingstudents andchoosingtheeducationalmaterialstheyuseintheircourses.Therefore,inregulatingfacultymembers’selectionofeducationalmaterials, legislative and higher education leaders should consider limits that the FirstAmendmentandacademicfreedommayplaceontheirabilitytoregulatethosematerials.In2012,SenateBills1052and1053(EducationCode§§ 66408and66409)directedthepublichighereducationsystemsinthestatetocreateanonlinelibrarywithopeneducationalresourcesandtextbooksinordertoincreasefacultyadoptionofhighquality,affordableorfreematerialsthatwouldsavestudentsmoney.ThecollaborationamongUC,CSUandCCCfacultywouldoccurunderthescopeoftheCaliforniaOpenEducationalResourcesCouncil(OERCouncil).AkeyroleoftheOERCouncilistofacilitatereviewoftextbooksforinclusioninthenewCaliforniaDigitalOpenSourceDigitalLibrary(CDOSL),whichcanbefoundonthewebsiteCOOL4Ed.org.TheOERCouncil is required todevelopa listof50 lower‐divisioncoursesinthepublicpostsecondarysegmentsforwhichhigh‐quality,opensourcetextbooksand relatedmaterialswill be developed or acquired. The OER Councilmust review andapprovedevelopedopensourcematerialsandpromotestrategiesforproduction,accessanduseofopensourcetextbooksatcampuslibrariesandsubmitafinalreporttotheLegislaturebyJanuary1,2016.1InJanuary2014,theCollegeBoardreportedthatthesecostshadrisento$1200annually.


Toestablish theOERCouncil andCOOL4Ed, theSenatebills appropriated$5millionanddirected the California StateUniversity, Office of the Chancellor to seek private funds tomatch the state allocation. In the fall of 2013, theCalifornia StateUniversity (CSU)wasawardedgrantsfromtheWilliamandFloraHewlettFoundationandtheGatesFoundationtomakethatmatch.Additionally,perSB1052andSB1053,CSUwasdirectedtofacilitatecollaborationamong the threesegmentsofpublichighereducation todesignanddeliverintersegmentalservicesforthefacultyandstudentsofthethreehighereducationsegments.ToquicklydeliverontherequirementsofSB1052andSB1053,theprojectleveragedCSU’sexisting resources known as Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and OnlineTeaching(MERLOT)andAffordableLearningSolutions.ThekeycontactfortheOERCouncilproject is the OER Council Project Coordinator who reports directly to the Chair of theIntersegmentalCommitteeof theAcademicSenates (ICAS)which is chairedby theUC in2015‐16;CCCin2016‐17;andCSUin2017‐18.Thelibraryhousesopensourcematerialswhileprovidingaweb‐basedmeansforfacultytoeasilyfind,adopt,utilize,ormodifycoursematerialsforlittleornocost.Textbooksforthe50highimpactcoursesidentifiedbytheOERCouncilwillbehousedatCOOL4Ed.org,thefirst library service of the digital open source library, andmade available to faculty andstudents.Onthewebsite,facultycanseecourseslistedbyCourseIdentificationNumbering(C‐ID), and find recommended free eTextbooks and faculty reviews of them. Furtherdevelopmentofthelibraryisneededtoensuredisciplinesaren’tlimitedtoonlyonecourseidentifiedwithafreeeTextbook.TheOERCouncilutilizedtheC‐IDcoursedescriptorsinselectingthecriteriatodeterminethe50coursesfordevelopment.Thecriteriaare:

Thecourseishighlyenrolled. The course is comparable for as many campuses as possible and meets the

designationforgeneraleducation. Thecourseselectionislikelytogeneratesignificanttextbooksavings. Thereissomeconsistencybetweentextbookproductsforthecourses. Thecourseselectionprovidesopportunitiesforfacultytoaugmentopentextbooks. Thecoursesandtextbooksareconducivetodiscipline‐basedpedagogies. ThechosencoursesmusthaveaccesstomultipleOERtextbooks.

Quality control is amajor concern of faculty in the adoption ofOER. Under the currentstructure,eachtextbookisreviewedbyatleastonefacultymemberfromeachofthethreesystempartnersbeforebeingadded to the list.According to theAcademicSenateof theCaliforniaCommunityColleges,effortsareunderwaytoencouragefacultydisciplinereviewgroupstoconsiderincludingthehighlyratedeTextbookswiththelistofrecommendedtextsin each C‐ID course descriptor to better publicize the availability of free or low costeTextbooks.


OERattheCaliforniaCommunityCollegesIn2013,theCaliforniaCommunityCollegesBoardofGovernorsvotedtorequirethatanyworks created under contracts or grants funded by the California Community CollegesChancellor’sOfficecarrytheCreativeCommonsAttributionlicensethatgivespermissiontothepublictoreproduce,distribute,perform,displayoradaptthelicensedmaterialsforanypurposesolongastheusergivesattributiontotheauthor.ByrequiringaCreativeCommonsAttribution license, the Board of Governors has given individuals, nonprofits, and othercollegespermissiontouseandbuilduponmaterialcreatedwithpublicfunds,solongasthecreator is credited. Using a Creative Commons Attribution license also saves taxpayersmoneybynotfundingduplicateworkthatmayonlybeaccessibleonthelocallevel.Byhavingcourses licensed for modification and open use, faculty are encouraged to adopt OERmaterialsandfurthermodifythemtobestmeettheirownneeds.TheCollegeTextbookAffordabilityActIn2015,AssemblyBill798createdtheOpenEducationalResourcesAdoptionIncentiveFund(AIF) to provide incentives for efforts by campuses, staff, and faculty in accelerating theadoptionofopeneducationalresources(OER).AB798willgointoeffectonJanuary1,2016.UnderAB798campusescanreceivegrantsfromtheAdoptionIncentiveFundto:createandsupportfacultyandstaffprofessionaldevelopment;supportOERcurationactivities;supportcurriculummodification;or,providetechnologysupportforfaculty,staff,andstudents.Thebillallocates$2milliontotheAdoptionIncentiveFund.InordertoreceiveagrantfromtheAIF,campus‐levelacademicsenatesoftheCSUorCCCarerequiredtoadoptaresolutionthat:

Isincollaborationwithstudentsandtheadministration; Demonstratesitscommitmenttoincreasestudentaccesstohigh‐qualityOER;and States thatuponadoptionofacampus‐level resolution, thecampuswilldevelopa

planthatdescribesitsreadinesstospendthesefundstosupportfacultyadoptionofOER.

ByJune30,2016,campusesmaysubmittheresolutionandtheplantotheCaliforniaOERCouncilas theirapplication foran initialAIFgrant toplanastrategy foraccelerating theadoptionofOER.Eachyearthereafter,foruptothreeyears,eachcampuswillreceiveanAIFgrantformeetingestablishedperformancebenchmarks.