{"id":273,"date":"2011-10-31T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T20:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/wa-open-course-library-saves-students-millions\/"},"modified":"2011-10-31T20:24:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T20:24:00","slug":"wa-open-course-library-saves-students-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wa-open-course-library-saves-students-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"WA Open Course Library saves students millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Image via Wikipedia<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
GROUNDBREAKING STATE-SPONSORED PROGRAM CREATES FREE COURSE MATERIALS THAT WILL SAVE COLLEGE<\/b> STUDENTS MILLIONS<\/b><\/div>\n

<\/b><\/div>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
OLYMPIA, Wash. \u2013 Today during a telephone press conference, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) announced the launch of the Open Course Library, a collection of expertly developed educational materials for 42 of the state\u2019s highest-enrolled college courses. The materials \u2014 including textbooks, syllabi, activities, readings, assessments \u2014 cost $30 or less per student and are freely available online under an open license for use by the state\u2019s 34 public community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and anyone else worldwide. The project is set to expand to 81 courses by 2013.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Nationally recognized as a groundbreaking initiative, the Open Course Library aims to cut down textbook costs and improve course completion rates, helping more students earn the industry-recognized degrees and credentials they need to enter the workforce.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cFor employers, it\u2019s about up-skilling the labor force,\u201d said Shaunta Hyde, State Board member and director of Global Aviation Policy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. \u201cEvidence shows the burden of high college expenses can impact student success and degree completion. By offering high-quality, affordable resources, this initiative will ultimately lead to more college graduates with better job prospects.\u201d<\/div>\n
According to an informal study by the Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs<\/a>), the Open Course Library could save students as much as $41.6 million on textbooks annually if adopted at all of Washington\u2019s community and technical colleges. The study also estimates that the 42 faculty course developers and their departments will save students $1.26 million by using the materials during the 2011-2012 school year, which alone exceeds the $1.18 million cost of creating the courses. \u201cThese savings will not only help Washington\u2019s students afford college, but clearly provide a tremendous return on the original investment,\u201d said Nicole Allen<\/a>, Textbook Advocate for the Student PIRGs.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
 Each course was developed and peer reviewed by a team of instructors, instructional designers and librarians. Use of the course materials is optional, but many faculty and departments are already moving to adopt them. This fall, the mathematics department at Green River Community College in Auburn, Wash. began using the Calculus I course in place of an expensive, traditional textbook. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI supported, and promoted, my division\u2019s adoption of the text by David Lippman and Melonie Rasmussen text primarily because it is, in my opinion, the best pre-calculus text available. Even those in the division who might disagree ranked it no lower than second,\u201d said Michael Kenyon, the department\u2019s coordinator. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no contest on price. Our two main criteria for choosing textbooks are quality and price. The authors have simply written a better book at a much better price.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Lindsey Cassels, an Esthetics Sciences student at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Wash. took a class using the Open Course Library\u2019s public speaking course materials. \u201cIt was the least expensive and most beneficial course I have taken, since the course materials cost us no more than $30 out of pocket.\u201d Like many students, Cassels spends more than $1,000 on textbooks annually, which she says can deprive our economy of better-educated workers by making it harder to afford college. \u201cIt is outrageous to pay $200 or more per textbook. In a four-quarter program, it\u2019s enough to make students drop out.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Funded by the Washington State Legislature<\/a> and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Open Course Library joins the growing movement for open educational resources (OER), setting a strong example by requiring that all materials created through the program be openly licensed to the public to freely use, adapt and distribute. Already, other initiatives are lining up to use and improve the materials, including the Saylor Foundation, Project Kaleidoscope and the City of Sao Paulo, Brazil.<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not often that government gets this right,\u201d said Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle) of Washington State\u2019s 36th District, a champion of the Open Course Library and OER. \u201cThis is a significant state investment in this era of massive budget cuts. We had little choice but to seize the opportunity of this crisis to challenge the status quo of the old-style cost model in both K-12 and higher education.\u201d<\/div>\n
\"The<\/a>                  Image via Wikipedia<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cWashington state is a national leader in developing innovative programs that help more students graduate from community and technical colleges,\u201d said Josh Jarrett, deputy director of Postsecondary Success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. \u201cThis Open Course Library will ensure more students can afford to stay enrolled in college and graduate with a degree that will prepare them for the workforce.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
CONTACT: <\/b><\/div>\n
Tom Caswell, Open Education<\/a> Policy Associate and project lead, mobile (360) 747-7301, tcaswell@sbctc.edu<\/a><\/div>\n
Sherry Nelson, SBCTC Communications, (360) 704-4308, slnelson@sbctc.edu<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
About the Washington State Board for Community Colleges:<\/b><\/div>\n
The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) is responsible for administering the Community and Technical College Act and providing leadership and coordination for Washington’s public system of 34 community and technical colleges. SBCTC also provides shared technology resources and manages a number projects, including the Open Course Library. SBCTC has used system-wide shared courses for over two decades to support faculty and students.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Background:<\/b><\/div>\n
Open Course Library http:\/\/opencourselibrary.org<\/a> <\/div>\n
Open Course Library FAQs http:\/\/www.opencourselibrary.org\/about\/faq<\/a><\/div>\n
Student Public Interest Research Groups http:\/\/www.studentpirgs.org\/textbooks\/research<\/a> <\/div>\n
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges http:\/\/sbctc.edu\/<\/a><\/div>\n
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation http:\/\/www.gatesfoundation.org\/postsecondaryeducation\/Pages\/default.aspx<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image via Wikipedia GROUNDBREAKING STATE-SPONSORED PROGRAM CREATES FREE COURSE MATERIALS THAT WILL SAVE COLLEGE STUDENTS MILLIONS OLYMPIA, Wash. \u2013 Today during a telephone press conference, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) announced the launch of the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444,39,43],"tags":[579,580],"class_list":["post-273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-college","category-oer","category-open-textbooks","tag-sbctc","tag-washington-state-legislature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}