“Open educational resources included, but are not limited to, full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, faculty-created content, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.”
– As defined in California Legislation Bill AB-798 College Textbook Affordability Act of 2015
Since 1998, textbook cost has risen 142%
Based upon data from select programs (Biology, Psychology, History) at CSU Channel Islands during Spring 2016, it is estimated that textbook costs for a baccalaureate degree on this campus can cost students between $1165 – $5788 depending upon the program and textbooks selected by faculty.
While student costs continue to rise, efforts on this campus are being made to inform and support faculty to explore how open educational resources can be used to decrease the cost impact for students for course materials. In a recent report released by BABSON Survey Research Group most faculty change or revise educational materials for at least one course within two years (90%), while most courses with required textbooks are printed rather than digital (69%). Another concerning result from this study was faculty awareness of OER remains low with only 34% reporting awareness of open textbooks. Barriers to adopting open textbooks was most often due to faculty reporting a lack of resources for the subject, or not being able to adequately find the resources needed.
The goal of openCI is to overcome these barriers by informing faculty about the variety of resources available to help reduce textbook costs, and by supporting efforts to explore, cultivate, and access high quality open educational resources (OER).