Initiatives: Open Educational Resources

Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative

With the passage of The Textbook Cost Savings Act of 2017, the Maryland General Assembly charged the USM’s Kirwan Center with supporting and scaling the adoption of "openly licensed, fully accessible" instructional materials across Maryland public higher education institutions through the Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative.

M.O.S.T. began in 2013 to provide a statewide opportunity for faculty and institutions to explore the promise of open educational resources (OERs) to reduce students' cost of attendance while maintaining, or perhaps even improving, learning outcomes.  OERs are any openly licensed instructional materials that are also typically available at little or no cost. The term can include textbooks, course readings, and other learning content; simulations, games, and other learning applications; syllabi, quizzes, and assessment tools; and virtually any other material that can be used for instructional purposes.

The M.O.S.T. initiative has saved students over $14.2 million in textbook costs from Spring 2014 through Fall 2020.  Learn more about M.O.S.T. and find resources to support your OER adoption.

Our Work in Open Educational Resources

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December 8, 2017

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative, led by the University System of Maryland’s William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, is .seeking proposals for its 2018 High-impact OER Mini-Grant program to strategically support Maryland public institutions’ efforts to adopt Open Educational Resources (OERs) as a means to greatly reduce textbook costs and address college affordability for students.  Building on the prior success of the M.O.S.T. initiative and the first round of mini-grants, this funding program will target OER adoption in “high impact,” high enrollment courses for which high-quality OER already exists.  Two types of mini-grants will be awarded: 1) Adopt/Adapt OER ($500 - $1,500) and 2) Scaling OER ($1,500 - $2,500).  

October 20, 2017

The William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation invites you to attend one of four half-day Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative workshops being offered this fall to support the adoption of open educational resources (OER).  These workshops, which will be offered on November 9th and again on November 10th, will be focused on high-enrollment courses in mathematics, the humanities, and the sciences and OER-related delivery technologies (see below for the workshop descriptions).

October 13, 2017

Advancing Postsecondary Student Success Through OER: A Statewide Symposium on Open Educational Resources was a day-long summit that brought together faculty, instructional designers, librarians, and administrators from across Maryland’s higher education institutions to explore the promise of using open educational resources (OER) to replace costly textbooks with affordable, high-quality learning materials while giving instructors the opportunity to repurpose content to meet their students’ needs.

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