OER program turns page on textbooks - Nora Thompson, Aztec Press

Imagine a world where textbooks are free. Pima Community College is getting closer to that reality by offering a number of online and classroom courses that don’t require students to purchase textbooks. OER textbooks, or Open Educational Resources, is a collection of materials that falls under Creative Commons licensing and is free for students and teachers to use. Creative Commons differs from the “all rights reserved” licensing that most textbooks fall under by allowing people to use the materials in any way they wish. The author doesn’t have to sell to a publisher, and in return, no one makes or pays money for it. The number of OER courses has been increasing in large part due to Pima winning the Achieving the Dream Grant, which allocates funds and resources for community colleges to start OER programs. http://aztecpressonline.com/2018/02/oer-program-turns-page-on-textbooks-by-nora-thompson/