Faculty Guide to Open Educational Resources (OER)

"In 2012 the Hewlett Foundation funded the OER Research Hub project. This sought to establish an evidence base for the many beliefs widely held regarding the benefits of OER."

Research on OER Impact and Effectiveness
"Lumen personnel are at the forefront of research regarding cost savings, learning gains, and other impacts of adopting open educational resources. This research appears in some of the world’s premier peer-reviewed research journals. Dr. Wiley also chairs dissertations exploring the cutting edge of research relating to open education."

Information from Student Public Interest Research Groups about textbook affordability.

Abstract

Textbooks represent a significant portion of the overall cost of higher education in the United States. The burden of these costs is typically shouldered by students, those who support them, and the taxpayers who fund the grants and student loans which pay for textbooks. Open educational resources (OER) provide students a way to receive high-quality learning materials at little or no cost to students. We report on the cost savings achieved by students at eight colleges when these colleges began utilizing OER in place of traditional commercial textbooks.

Library article - requires login. Abstract: "Building Awareness of OER is growing, due in some part to the U.S. Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grants. The college used MyOpenMath, supported by Lumen Learning. Because students had the materials on the first day of classes, students engaged earlier and more deeply in the learning process."

This report aims to investigate the degree at which prices actually affect student’s financial standing and behavior and make the case for urgent action around high textbook prices.

"The Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) project was proposed to investigate in what ways and under what circumstances the adoption of open educational resources (OER) could address the increasing demand for accessible, relevant, high-quality and affordable education in the Global South."

ROER4D’s main research output comprises an edited volume, Adoption and Impact of OER in the Global South, and an associated open data collection.