OER faculty training program begun February 10

Under the direction of President Lisa Rhine, Yavapai Community College has launched an aggressive program to reduce the annual book costs to a student by an estimated $1,600.  The program will rely on “Open Educational Resources” materials that are proving to be as good or better in most cases than traditional textbooks. The District Governing Board received a detailed explanation of how the College is implementing the OER program at its meeting last Tuesday.

The first faculty training program began February 10 and a second is scheduled for March 30. Students using OER material will receive them on-line. Their is no cost attached to them. They can then download the material as a PDF file and place it in a binder. It permanently belongs to the student.

The OER material is flexible and can be altered by faculty using it before sending it to students in a course.  This is an advantage over traditional textbooks. 

A complete, detailed explanation by Dr. Rhine and Dr. Diane Ryan about OER material is contained in the video below.  Dr. Ryan is a veteran in successfully developing OER  material and implementing them  into a College curriculum.