Beyond Saving Money: Engaging Multiple Stakeholders is a Key to OER Success
This article addresses how the mere development of open educational resources (OERs) and the financial savings are not enough to support OERs as means to academic success. The transition from for-pay textbooks does not end with the adaptation, adoption, or creation of open-access resources; it must also provide broad-ranging support provided for multiple campus stakeholders. This should include, at minimum, comprehensive professional development for academic and library faculty concerning (1) how to review and revise OERs after their initial implementation; (2) training students to be actively engaged in their learning; (3) partnering library and academic faculty to grow, sustain, and expand an OER initiative; and (4) defining academic freedom and accessibility through an OER lens.
