Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available learning materials that can be downloaded, edited, and shared to better serve all students. Resources may include a book or software developed by individuals worldwide for educational purposes (K-20 levels). Most are openly licensed and free to use by others.
Adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) at MC means students have digital and print options for learning material. In Fall 2021, about 600 Z-course sections were offered, resulting in more than 10,000 enrollments. This accessibility to zero-cost textbooks provides access to thousands of students who may not otherwise engage in furthering their education. In addition, students have access to five Z-degrees, meaning their entire MC educational journey could result in never having to buy a textbook.
Success in Z-courses mirrors success in non-Z- courses when disaggregated by gender and by race.
What Are Open Educational Resources and Why Should You Care?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are freely available learning materials that can be downloaded, edited, and shared to better serve all students. Resources may include a book or software developed by individuals around the world for educational purposes (K-20 levels). Most are openly licensed and free to use by others.
Three principles of OER:
- Openness, free availability, customizability
- Accessible by search methods, or browsing through collections
- Any individual can develop and post his or her own OERs.
The OER Guide
The Open Educational Resources – A Guide for Understanding, Finding, Creating, and Using Open Educational Resources (OERs) at Montgomery College is a resource for Montgomery College faculty and staff who want to locate or develop open educational resources (OERs).
Did you know that OER can save students money? Yes. OERs are educational materials that are low cost or no cost to the students.
OERs also provide greater flexibility and freedom in customizing course content, increase access to instructional materials, increase student success, and increase student engagement.
- Montgomery College Library supports college affordability and z-course creation by helping faculty discover and adopt no-cost, high-quality e-books and e-textbooks for their courses. This service supports the MC Open initiative, which aims to “leverage pedagogy that fosters student success while reducing costs and increasing access to course materials.”Open Educational Resources
Open e-books and e-textbooks (OERs) from a variety of vendors that are completely open and free for anyone to use.
MC Library E-Books
E-books already licensed by the MC Library that you can adopt as a course textbook. Use of these e-books is free of charge for MC students and faculty.E-Books Available for Purchase
E-books the library can license if you choose the title as your course text. Once the library has obtained the e-book, you and your students will be able to use it, free of charge.
Faculty Select is a self-service platform that allows faculty to find and adopt an e-book or e-textbook to use as their course text. Faculty Select contains thousands of high-quality titles on a wide variety of academic subjects.
How to Find an E-Book or E-Textbook for a Z-Course
- Open the Faculty Select platform.
- ACCESS FACULTY SELECT
- Search for an item to adopt as your course text by keyword, title, or author
- Preview as many titles as you would like by clicking the preview links until you locate one you would like to adopt.
There are many resources to help one search for legitimate open educational resources (OERs). The following list of sources is not exhaustive but it may be useful for someone looking for OERs to try these first.
- British Columbia – Open textbooks and other OER-related items.
- Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER)
- Open Educational Resources Used in Various Colleges and Universities
Explore and learn more about Open Educational Resources through these resources:
Getting Started with OERs
Open Content to Create a Culturally Relevant Classroom Resources & Links
OER and the Cornerstones of MC 2025
MC Open – Students
MC Open – Faculty