An Interview with Jeff Gallant from Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) - AACE

"In the last decade, the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) has gained an undeniable momentum. At the same time, both faculty and students face barriers adopting OER. How can we foster a collaborative teaching climate in higher education to encourage faculty to work together to create, share, revise, and customize their course materials? How would this change the students’ learning experience, and the affordability of study material, i.e., textbooks? Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) is an initiative that was started by the University System of Georgia (USG) to promote student success by supporting the implementation of affordable alternatives to expensive commercial textbooks, particularly Open Educational Resources (OER) and open textbooks. Jeff Gallant, program manager of Affordable Learning Georgia, is an expert on OER and textbook affordability.  In the interview, he gives an overview of the goals and history of ALG, differentiates between openness and affordability, and concludes with a vision for the future.

Please describe the history and goals of ALG.

Affordable Learning Georgia started in 2013 as a pilot team of USG librarians and instructional designers, working with GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library, which had been providing affordable library materials to the state of Georgia for over 20 years. The team was charged with finding new ways to reduce the cost of textbooks to USG students and contribute to their retention, progression, and graduation. When ALG was first funded, as a USG initiative in 2014, those new ways became our plan of action and part of an overall effort to make higher education more effective, accessible, and affordable in Georgia, alongside Complete College Georgia and the 2013-2018 USG Strategic Plan...."