{"id":2287,"date":"2023-06-12T09:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T16:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2025-09-26T12:27:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:27:22","slug":"how-the-affordable-learning-grant-supports-faculty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/how-the-affordable-learning-grant-supports-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberating course materials from the textbook industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h2>\n

How Oregon State\u2019s Affordable Learning Grant supports faculty in getting started with open educational resources<\/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

Whether you\u2019re struggling to find a suitable textbook for your course or <\/span>want to remove learning barriers for your students<\/span><\/a>, there has never been a better time to explore the world of open educational resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For John Lambrinos, an associate professor of horticulture at Oregon State University, the motivation was twofold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI needed a text for my Ecology of Managed Ecosystems course, but none were available that really matched the subject matter,\u201d he says. \u201cI briefly thought of going with a commercial publisher, but the textbook industry is more a profit-making racket than a public service.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the desire and motivation already there for Lambrinos, writing an original textbook is a huge time commitment. The push to finally make it happen came in the form of <\/span>Oregon State\u2019s Affordable Learning Grant<\/span><\/a>, which\u00a0provides Oregon State faculty with up to $15,000 in department-to-department funding to adopt, adapt or author an open educational resource for their face-to-face, online or hybrid course.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing the Affordable Learning Grant did was formalize the commitment,\u201d says Lambrinos. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The funds are nice, but they have a small impact on carving out time to write the book.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Lambrinos, the grant transformed OSU\u2019s <\/span>Open Educational Resources Unit<\/span><\/a> into a kind of accountability partner \u2014\u00a0with frequent check-ins on progress, help navigating the publishing process, graphic design support and even some editorial feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

Lambrinos published “A Natural History of the Anthropocene<\/a>” as an open educational resource. This means the book is available at no cost to students, and faculty all over the world can adopt and adapt the text.<\/p><\/div>\n

His new book, \u201c<\/span>A Natural History of the Anthropocene<\/span><\/a>,\u201d officially published in January 2023. Written in the style of a natural history guide, it\u2019s an engaging overview of biodiversity that helps students understand how humans historically shaped \u2014 and continue to shape \u2014 our natural world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lambrinos\u2019 book is freely available for anyone to read online, and it carries an open license. This means professors around the world can now adopt or adapt the text for their courses and at no cost to their students.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Open Educational Resources Unit understands that time constraints are a challenge for every professor teaching and researching today. That\u2019s partly why the Affordable Learning Grant offers funding not only for <\/span>authoring<\/span><\/i> a textbook, but for <\/span>adopting<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>adapting<\/span><\/i> them as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that <\/span>61% of Oregon State students don\u2019t buy their textbooks<\/span><\/a> because of the cost,\u201d says Stefanie Buck, director of the Open Educational Resources Unit. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge accessibility issue, and so we want to demystify open educational resources and incentivize faculty to get involved.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of the grant program is to continue to replace as many conventional textbooks as possible. Not only does this increase access to knowledge, but it also ensures curriculum is easy to update in our rapidly-changing world.<\/span><\/p>\n

For other Oregon State faculty who are interested in exploring OER, Lambrinos advises that authoring an open resource \u201cis going to take longer to complete than you think.\u201d He also recommends that faculty grant recipients get creative in their use of funds, such as \u201ctraveling to interview experts\u201d in the field you\u2019re writing about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, he thinks you might be surprised by the options that are out there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe range of OER options and their quality have greatly improved over the years,\u201d says Lambrinos. \u201cI think that there are diminishing situations where a commercial textbook provides a superior learning resource for students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

You can learn more about the different funding options and how to apply for an Affordable Learning Grant on the <\/span>Open Educational Resources Unit website<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Whether you\u2019re struggling to find a suitable textbook for your course or want to remove learning barriers for your students, there has never been a better time to explore the world of open educational resources.\u00a0Oregon State associate professor John Lambrinos shares why and relates his experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2288,"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":[1,13,702,679],"tags":[662,602],"class_list":["post-2287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-oer","category-educational-ventures","category-leadership-and-innovation","tag-division-of-educational-ventures","tag-oer-at-work"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-AT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2730,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/open-education-week-oer\/","url_meta":{"origin":2287,"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":1900,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-software-engineering\/","url_meta":{"origin":2287,"position":1},"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. Get rid of drawn-out, technical explanations. Connect the text directly to the coursework. Oh, and make it free to every student who needs it. Those were a few of the goals Lara Letaw established when she set out to write a textbook on software engineering.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A photo of two people working at a desk and looking at a computer.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/P03002-OER-Larissa-Letaw-800x450-211215.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/P03002-OER-Larissa-Letaw-800x450-211215.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/P03002-OER-Larissa-Letaw-800x450-211215.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/P03002-OER-Larissa-Letaw-800x450-211215.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1671,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-environmental-politics-and-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2287,"position":2},"title":"OER at Work: Open textbook increases affordability, up-to-date information","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"January 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The ability to edit the open source text allows my colleague and I to provide updated information instantaneously. 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":1687,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-at-work-marine-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":2287,"position":3},"title":"OER at Work: Authoring a marine law open textbook was ‘straightforward and seamless’","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State researcher and instructor Holly Campbell says the process of authoring an open textbook on marine law \"was very straightforward and seamless,\" and she advises her faculty colleagues to not hesitate in implementing open educational resources in their classes.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A humpback whale breaches and soars in the air above the ocean. 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