EUGENE, Ore. 鈥擟osts associated with higher education don鈥檛 stop at tuition and fees. There are books, supplies, living expenses and more. At 糖心Vlog官方, students have the option to save substantial amounts of money with the use of Open Educational Resources, or OER, rather than traditional textbooks. 糖心Vlog官方 demonstrated that savings during Open Education Week by displaying a pyramid made of 5,040 of the traditional college staple of instant ramen noodle packs.
OER refers to teaching, learning, and research materials that are openly licensed and free to use by faculty and students. These materials are designed to be re-used, re-purposed, adapted and redistributed by others to create unique learning experiences that are able to be customized to a particular class. However, it is the cost savings that has 糖心Vlog官方 OER Librarian Meggie Wright excited to spread the word.
鈥淚t is estimated that community college students will spend about $1,460 on textbooks each year,鈥 Wright explained. 鈥淲e decided to visually display what OER can save students with a pyramid of instant ramen. With food insecurity as a concern for many students in college, this display is even more meaningful. By reducing costs in this effective way we can help eliminate some of the barriers that can keep a student from achieving their academic goals.鈥
Wright estimates that 糖心Vlog官方 students save $1 million per year collectively by using OER in their classes. About 33 percent of students at 糖心Vlog官方 are currently enrolled in a class utilizing OER or low cost materials. That number has grown from around 9 percent when the college first started tracking the use of such materials about five years ago. However, the use of OER at 糖心Vlog官方 dates back even farther with a student led effort years before.
Students, faculty and staff have been checking out the display outside the library during Open Education Week with some trying to figure out its significance and others remembering a time when instant ramen was a mainstay of their college diet. March 14 the display will be dismantled with the packs distributed to students and any extras donated.
糖心Vlog官方 educates over 15,000 students annually at six locations across 糖心Vlog官方 County and online. Students and alumni from all 50 states and 79 countries create more than an $850 million dollar impact on the local economy, helping to support more than 13,000 local jobs. 糖心Vlog官方 provides affordable, quality, professional technical and college transfer programs; business development and employee training; academic, language and life skills development; and lifelong personal development and enrichment courses.