news release
governor's office
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DENVER, Colo. – The Colorado Higher Education Commission has approved 26 proposals for Open Educational Resources (OER) projects to create high-quality teaching and learning materials at no cost to Colorado students.
“You don't have to pay hundreds of dollars for textbooks for just one course. Colorado State is breaking down the barrier to free, open source textbooks that are even better than expensive commercial textbooks. We are excited to create 10 more Z degrees that will save students thousands of dollars per student with zero textbook costs until certification or certification,” said Governor Jared Polis.
The OER grant program is in its sixth year. To date, grant recipients have worked together to save Colorado students more than $31.5 million in textbook costs by creating, adapting, and adopting free, open-licensed educational resources on campuses across the state. He has converted over 1,600 courses for free.
With the start of this grant cycle, the Colorado OER Grant Program will award funding to public higher education institutions in five tiers: Zero Textbook Degree Development, Collaborative Partnerships, Small Groups, Institutional General Incentive Funds, and Individuals. In his sixth year, his OER grant recipients involve multiple institutions, including 20 educational institutions in Colorado and the first collaborative partnership grant involving private higher education institutions and high schools4 Includes two collaborative projects. More than 60% of the $1 million in funding was awarded to zero-textbook degree development and collaborative projects. Ten projects will develop a “Z degree” that will allow students to earn degrees in fields from nursing to drama without paying for textbooks. See the list of awards.
CDHE Executive Director Dr. Angie Paccione said: “This significant investment lets our students know that we want to support them in every aspect of their higher education journey and are committed to providing them with a pathway to career achievement.”
Let's participate
The OER Council works with CDHE to host events and other professional development opportunities to help others learn about Colorado's open education movement. Open Education Week 2024, March 4-8, will feature interactive webinars, training, faculty recognition using OER, and more on campuses across Colorado.
CDHE will hold its annual statewide OER conference on Friday, May 17th in Denver. The conference provides professional development for instructors, librarians, and administrators to advance open education across the state. The 2024 conference theme is “Open Pedagogy: From Concept to Classroom.” You can register for his 2024 OER conference here.
HB 18-1331, supported by the Colorado Legislature's Joint Budget Committee in 2018, established a grant program and tasked the Colorado OER Council with advising the Department on aspects of this effort. The grant program was expanded for an additional five years by SB 21-215. For more information about the program, including grant impact and scope, please see our 2023 report, Transforming Educational Practice with Open Educational Resources.
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