Student Benefits

How does OER benefit me as a student?

Students are free to engage with their instructors on access and concerns regarding the affordability of course materials. Through state-funded initiatives and systematic changes, the California Community Colleges and the California State University systems have made considerable efforts to strategically move toward affordable course material, creating Zero Textbook Cost pathways, and more.

In the UC system, librarians and faculty collaborate locally to collect and license educational and research materials while offering the benefits of various open education initiatives.

Cost savings

As a student, you are probably familiar with the high cost of textbooks and how purchasing multiple textbooks each quarter impacts your budget. According to the Education Data Initiative (2023), the average undergraduate student pays $339-$600 on books/supplies each academic year, and 25% of students reported working extra hours to afford books and materials.

Open educational resources (OER) are one way to ease this financial burden: with OER, your learning materials are free, meaning that you can use the money you've saved on important expenses such as rent, groceries, or transportation.

Student Advocacy

Student groups have been advocating for open and affordable textbooks in California and nationwide. In 2021, University of California students passed a resolution encouraging UC to invest in openly accessible course materials.

Nationally, the Make Textbooks Affordable campaign, led by Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Group), advocates for free or low-cost college textbooks. Make Textbooks Affordable has released research on textbook affordability and provides resources and action items for student advocates.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

By making educational materials free and openly accessible, OER advance diversity and equity. Free educational resources lower financial barriers to education and foster inclusion of students who belong to groups historically underrepresented in higher education.

Additionally, instructors can incorporate diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in their use of OER. Many OER include content that is inclusive of people with diverse backgrounds and is responsive to cultural differences. Online OER often follow universal design for learning principles and have accessibility features that enable students with diverse learning styles and/or disabilities to engage in course content.

Examples of OER that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion:

• Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach. By Deborah P. Amory, et al.
• Critical Race Theory in Education: Reader of Open Access Scholarship. By Oscar E. Patrón, et al.

OER and Data Privacy

Students may be accustomed to renting digital textbooks or purchasing access codes from textbook publishers. What students may not know is that some platforms collect data from users through terms-of-use agreements, and what's more, they may sell this data to others if the terms of the agreements allow for it (Meinke, 2018; Swaak, 2023). This may seem like a typical consequence of internet use, but it's important to be aware of and talk about these kinds of practices. It is highly encouraged to carefully read through the user agreements for online resources and review what can be collected by third parties.

One of the many by-products of OER is that the content is widely and freely available. However, some platforms ask users to log into their sites or ask faculty to fill out an adoption form, potentially enabling the platform creator to track how the product is being used. Whether using online textbooks, publisher access codes, library journal databases or online OER, students should be diligent and mindful that some of these resources harvest data.