The University System of Maryland (USM) William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation this fall will expand the scope of its Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative to make learning materials more affordable to students.
The Kirwan Center will scale its open educational resource (OER) adoptions and continue developing a sustainable business model for services and resources to be shared across 2-year and 4-year institutions in the state.
OER are high quality, openly licensed instructional materials that are freely available and can be downloaded, edited, and shared to better serve all students. Because they aren’t confined to the same copyright restrictions as materials from traditional publishing companies, educators can modify OER to personalize lesson plans and make sure students are receiving the most current and accurate information available.
“When the Maryland General Assembly passed The Textbook Cost Savings Act last year, the Kirwan Center was charged with supporting and scaling the adoption of openly licensed, fully accessible instructional materials across Maryland public higher education institutions in the state,” said MJ Bishop, Ed.D., Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation.
This work is being made possible by a $1 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Education program. “Our goal is for every student to have access to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed, and OER can energize teaching and learning,” said Program Officer Angela DeBarger. “The Kirwan Center’s focus on making effective OER widely available means we can continue to support faculty as they improve course design and try new teaching techniques, while also building the evidence base for how OER impacts student achievement.”
The Kirwan Center’s long-term vision includes enhancing higher education affordability by growing the scope and impact of M.O.S.T. The cumulative impact of M.O.S.T. savings has impacted 39,004 students with a savings of $6.3 million from spring 2014 through fall 2018.
Currently, Maryland 2- and 4-year public higher education students are spending more than $223 million annually on textbooks, severely impacting college affordability for many students.
“The Kirwan Center does remarkable work as a national leader in the academic innovation movement,” said USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret. “With the support and generosity of the Hewlett Foundation, the Center will be able to dramatically improve affordability for students by reducing the cost of educational materials.”
The University System of Maryland (USM) William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation this fall will expand the scope of its Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative to make learning materials more affordable to students.
The Kirwan Center will scale its open educational resource (OER) adoptions and continue developing a sustainable business model for services and resources to be shared across 2-year and 4-year institutions in the state.
OER are high quality, openly licensed instructional materials that are freely available and can be downloaded, edited, and shared to better serve all students. Because they aren’t confined to the same copyright restrictions as materials from traditional publishing companies, educators can modify OER to personalize lesson plans and make sure students are receiving the most current and accurate information available.
“When the Maryland General Assembly passed The Textbook Cost Savings Act last year, the Kirwan Center was charged with supporting and scaling the adoption of openly licensed, fully accessible instructional materials across Maryland public higher education institutions in the state,” said MJ Bishop, Ed.D., Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation.
This work is being made possible by a $1 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Education program. “Our goal is for every student to have access to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed, and OER can energize teaching and learning,” said Program Officer Angela DeBarger. “The Kirwan Center’s focus on making effective OER widely available means we can continue to support faculty as they improve course design and try new teaching techniques, while also building the evidence base for how OER impacts student achievement.”
The Kirwan Center’s long-term vision includes enhancing higher education affordability by growing the scope and impact of M.O.S.T. The cumulative impact of M.O.S.T. savings has impacted 39,004 students with a savings of $6.3 million from spring 2014 through fall 2018.
Currently, Maryland 2- and 4-year public higher education students are spending more than $223 million annually on textbooks, severely impacting college affordability for many students.
“The Kirwan Center does remarkable work as a national leader in the academic innovation movement,” said USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret. “With the support and generosity of the Hewlett Foundation, the Center will be able to dramatically improve affordability for students by reducing the cost of educational materials.”
