{"id":1867,"date":"2021-09-27T08:30:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2025-09-26T13:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T20:46:12","slug":"oer-commons-open-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-commons-open-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding a new, prominent home for Oregon State\u2019s OER"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open textbooks and other no-cost learning materials now available on OER Commons<\/h2>\n
Editor’s note: <\/strong>This story was originally published on the Oregon State University Division of Educational Ventures news site<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

Oregon State University\u2019s expanding collection of open educational resources is now available in one of the world\u2019s largest OER repositories, giving users greater access to the university\u2019s no-cost course materials in a single location.<\/p>\n

OER Commons<\/strong>\u00a0is a freely accessible, online library that invites educators and students at Oregon State and worldwide\u00a0to discover open textbooks and other freely available instructional materials. Learning objects produced by OSU faculty now exist amongst a trove of thousands of items that were created at other institutions.<\/p>\n

The new Oregon State OER Commons collection<\/a> allows users to search by subject area and type of material, from openly licensed textbooks and interactive course modules to online labs and entire courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose to move to an OER Commons hub specifically designed for Oregon State because we wanted to have one place where our users and others can find all of our OER materials at once,\u201d said Stefanie Buck, director of the OSU Open Educational Resources Unit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since 2019, Oregon State faculty have helped students save more than $7 million by assigning OER in their courses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Buck and the OERU staff work hand in hand with Oregon State faculty to create, locate and implement no-cost and low-cost learning materials. These collaborative efforts advance the university\u2019s goal to reduce student debt and make college more accessible and affordable.<\/p>\n

Since 2019, Oregon State faculty have helped students save more than $7 million by assigning OER in their courses.<\/p>\n

An open access win-win for faculty and students<\/h3>\n

Having OSU\u2019s open access resources hosted by the OER Commons is a move that positively impacts both instructors and students, according to Buck.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur faculty authors benefit from this in that their work has a wider reach and broader impact because so many people use the OER Commons,\u201d she said. \u201cFaculty and students can find our textbooks alongside other relevant OER material, which means faculty don\u2019t have to spend as much time creating works. They can borrow and adapt from works already in existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor students, the primary benefit is finding supplemental learning materials that are high quality. All of the content in the OER Commons is reviewed by specialists before it can be added.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oregon State is home to three OER Champions<\/a>. Earlier this year, faculty members Glencora Borradaile<\/a> and Marit Bovbjerg<\/a> and OERU assistant director Mark Lane were honored by Open Oregon Educational Resources for their use and promotion of open source learning materials.<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]here\u2019s a bigger-picture benefit of not requiring people to pay for knowledge,\u201d Bovbjerg said. \u201cI\u2019m a big proponent of open access to information in general. Not everyone is in a privileged position. Open access materials help to democratize knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Learn more about the OSU Open Educational Resources Unit and the support resources available to faculty.<\/em><\/p>\n

Explore OER services<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 2<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Oregon State University\u2019s expanding collection of open educational resources is now available in one of the world\u2019s largest OER repositories, giving users greater access to the university\u2019s no-cost course materials in a single location. OER Commons\u00a0is a freely accessible, online library that invites educators and students at Oregon State and worldwide\u00a0to discover open textbooks and other freely available instructional materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,13,702,2],"tags":[647],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-oer","category-educational-ventures","category-in-the-news","tag-oregon-state-open-educational-resources-unit"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-u7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2730,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/open-education-week-oer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":0},"title":"Oregon State faculty\u2019s use of free textbooks generates millions in student savings","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"March 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor's note: This story was originally published on the Oregon State University Division of Educational Ventures news site. Tuition costs are beyond the control of Oregon State University faculty members, but there is a proven way they can make student learning more affordable: by replacing expensive textbooks with free and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A person working on a laptop with a geographic map on the screen, alongside an open textbook titled \"Getting Organized.\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1421,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":1},"title":"Meet Oregon State\u2019s open educational resources team","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Making high-quality education more affordable for students is a critical priority at Oregon State. That\u2019s the mission that drives OSU\u2019s Open Educational Resources Unit. In order to help faculty and the OSU community better understand why OER are so critical for student success, the OER Unit's leadership team answered a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oer.jpg?fit=744%2C495&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oer.jpg?fit=744%2C495&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oer.jpg?fit=744%2C495&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/valley-library-oer.jpg?fit=744%2C495&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1977,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/textbooks-expensive-affordable-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":2},"title":"Textbooks are way too expensive. Oregon State is saving students millions.","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"March 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"College textbooks are way too expensive, and Oregon State \u2014 with its faculty leading the way \u2014\u00a0is on a mission to make college more affordable and accessible for students. With the support of the OSU\u00a0Open Educational Resources Unit, an increasing number of OSU instructors are adopting, adapting and authoring no-cost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ecampus student Karen Baek sits at a laptop in an OSU building. 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With rapidly changing environmental policy issues in the West, this is needed to stay up-to-date.\" \u2013 OSU School of Public Policy assistant professor Erika Wolters","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo of Erika Wolters, assistant professor in Oregon State University's School of Public Policy, who has edited and adopted open educational resources in her courses.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Erika-Wolters-744x478-201210.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Erika-Wolters-744x478-201210.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Erika-Wolters-744x478-201210.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Erika-Wolters-744x478-201210.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1900,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-software-engineering\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":5},"title":"OER at Work: Ditching traditional textbooks for a true \u2018companion\u2019 to learning","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"November 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Cut down on chapter length. 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