Open Education Resources

For students, the high cost of educational resources and textbooks can be a serious obstacle to the accessibility and affordability of a post-secondary education. For instructors, traditional educational resources may also present a barrier to innovation in teaching and curriculum design. Fortunately, open educational resources (OER) provide a viable solution to both these issues. OER can be accessed for free online or printed at a fraction of the cost of a traditional textbook, and can be edited to better fit the curricular or pedagogical goals of an instructor.

The high cost of textbooks has become a serious obstacle to accessing post-secondary education in BC. The commercial textbook industry is making huge profits off students who are already facing ever-increasing tuition fees and student loan debt.
Since 2002, the cost of textbooks has nearly doubled. In fact, 26% of BC students choose to not register for a course due to textbook costs, which negatively impacts their academic career. There is a solution to this problem: the implementation of Open Education Resources (OERs).