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Students Applaud Open Education

Resource Funding

Students are applauding
the BC government’s an-
nounced funding infusion
for the development of
open education resources
(OERs). The $3.26 mil-
lion in additional funding
for BCcampus will enable
the agency to create and
enhance open resources
such as textbooks, online
assignments, and practice
exams that will be avail-
able free for students and
instructors at BC _ post-
secondary institutions.

The cost of textbooks and
course materials has long
been a financial challenge
for students: between 2002
and 2012 textbook prices
rose by 82%. These costs

have a real impact on stu-
dent success: 65% of stu-
dents report opting to not
purchase an assigned text-
book; 49% report taking
fewer courses to reduce
the cost; and 27% report
that they have dropped
a coutse because of the
cost of the textbook.

In 2012 the BC govern-
ment tasked its agency
BCcampus with  creat-
ing the Open Textbook
Project with $2 million
in funding for the initia-
tive. Since then, OERs
have saved students more
than $9 million by creat-
ing free and openly ac-
cessible textbook options.

The BC Federation o!
Students has advocatec
for the creation and us«
of OERs for three year
with its Open Textbook
Now! campaign. Most oi
the advocacy work has fo
cused on students raisin;
awareness on campus anc
working with faculty te
adopt OERs in their class
es; provincially the BCE
has called for an infusior
of funding to further ex
pand availability, particu
larly in under-resourcec
areas such as_ trades

For more articles like this, check out the official BCFS blog at https://www.wearebcstudents.ca/blog