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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2019

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2019
April 8, 2019

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2019 High-impact OER Mini-Grant Program.  This year, 42 grantees were selected from seventeen 2- and 4-year Maryland public higher education institutions, with a potential impact to approximately 8,000 students in Fall 2019.The High-impact OER Mini-Grant Program is designed to strategically support Maryland public higher education institutions’ efforts to increase access, affordability, and achievement for students through the incorporation of open educational resources (OER) into teaching practice.  The goals of the M.O.S.T. OER Mini-Grant program are to impact student success through:

March 1, 2019

We are inviting faculty, staff, and administrators from Maryland higher education institutions to present their OER stories at a poster showcase at one or more M.O.S.T. Regional OER Forums.  Are you passionate about the use of OER and interested in engaging others in adopting OER by sharing your experiences – both what has worked and what hasn’t? Have you created new open content within your field or discipline? Do you have OER content adoption strategies to share? Has the use of OER led to broader redesigns of courses, changes to pedagogy, greater student engagement, or increased student learning?  Share your story!

March 1, 2019

The second Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) State Summit on open educational resources (OER) will be held Tuesday, May 28, 2019 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Maritime Conference Center.  Co-hosted by the Congress of Academic Library Directors (CALD) of Maryland, this Summit builds on the first M.O.S.T. Summit held in December 2017 with a focus on strategically building capacity within and across Maryland higher education institutions to increase access, affordability, and achievement for students through the incorporation of OER into teaching practice.  This Summit is ideally suited for institutions wishing to send a team of individuals charged with making OER adoptions strategic, sustainable, and impactful at their institution.

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