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Ways to make the courses you teach more affordable

Way #1: Use Open Educational Resources (OER)

OER is any form of educational material (text, video, audio, images, units, entire course, question sets, exam questions, etc.) designed for teaching, learning and research, that

  • is available online
  • is no cost
  • is openly-licensed with one of four Creative Commons open licenses or in the public domain (no longer protected by copyright law)
  • can be revised into a new, openly-licensed work then redistributed, allowing the use of innovative open pedagogy techniques in the classroom

Way #2: Use Resources the Library has already paid for

The Whittemore Library added many more academic e-books to our collections recently, so there may well be newer resources that would make great readings for your course that you didn't realize are now available. Plus, adding a link to a reading from the library collections into your class's Canvas site is much quicker than putting materials on reserve!
 
We also have two robust streaming video databases, full of documentaries and educational films.
 
And as always, check our database listing for newly available resources in your discipline.

Way #3: Link to free stuff (that's not OER) that's on the internet

Many people of course do this already, with the caveat that free internet content that is there due to the generosity of a website owner can potentially disappear at any time.

Way #4: Request a 'Course Materials Affordability Review' from the Library
We know your time is valuable and finite - so we're happy to help you find no-cost materials from all the categories above for your courses upon request.
 
Remember - while having a completely no-cost course is always great, any cost reduction helps immensely (especially if it brings your course closer to alignment with the MA DHE's 'low cost' course definition: class materials costing $50 or below). So don't let perfection be the enemy of the good  - e-mail Librarian Rebecca Dowgiert to request your affordability review today!