States mandate OER and affordable textbook labeling, but challenges remain

Amyluv's bookmarks 2017-12-07

Summary:

"Four states -- California, Oregon, Texas and Washington -- have in recent years passed legislation requiring institutions to add labels in course schedules and online registration systems for courses that use free textbooks or open educational resources (OER). Scattered institutions outside those four states have begun this process as well. The recently or soon-to-be enacted laws differ in the strength of their requirements; Texas, for instance, established standards for private institutions as well as public ones, and California is requiring labels only for courses that use free content, without a specific requirement for highlighting OER. Proponents of such changes argue that more labeling promotes transparency and gives students with financial constraints easier access to courses that won’t require exorbitant textbook fees. Some observers are more critical of the impulse to label courses, though, and implementation issues remain as the practice grows more widespread. Creating a labeling process requires contributions from multiple constituencies on campus, and some faculty members believe the system puts courses with required textbooks at an unfair disadvantage."

Link:

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/12/06/states-mandate-oer-and-affordable-textbook-labeling-challenges

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » Amyluv's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.new oa.legislation oa.oer oa.textbooks oa.hei oa.transparency oa.economics_of oa.obstacles oa.books

Date tagged:

12/07/2017, 13:53

Date published:

12/07/2017, 08:53