Oers - Garrett College
OERS

Free and reduced-cost textbooks at Garrett College

What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)?

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation define Open Educational Resources as:

Teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others.

Open educational resources include full courses, course material, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

OERs and Low-Cost Textbooks Initiatives at Garrett College

Garrett College has adopted the Maryland Open Source Textbook (M.O.S.T.) initiative definition by the University System of Maryland. M.O.S.T. defines open educational resources as those that replace traditional textbooks with learning resources that:

Garrett College first began using Open Educational Resources and incorporating low-cost textbook initiatives in the fall of 2017. We believe providing our students with free and/or low-cost textbook materials is one of the many benefits of attending Garrett College as a student.

With the rising costs in college tuition and textbooks across the nation, many students are searching for additional cost-saving measures. Unfortunately, many students choose to opt out of purchasing textbooks, which ultimately leads to decreased levels of success in the classroom.

We want our students to be successful both in and out of the classroom. We believe offering textbooks at little to no cost is a huge benefit for students enrolled at Garrett College.

Advantages of OERs and Low-Cost Textbook Courses

In addition to offering textbooks and course materials at little to no cost, both OERs and low-cost textbook courses offer a variety of advantages for academic institutions, including:

Garrett College Students – Current OER and Low-Cost Textbook Course List*

Curious to see which types of courses at Garrett College utilize OERs or low-cost textbooks? The following table demonstrates courses with textbooks and course fees totaling less than $40. Updated 4/12/2022

* Although these courses provide students with low cost/OER textbook options, the courses below are dependent upon both course selection and material type selected. Students are encouraged to check with their advisor/instructor prior to course registration

Arts & Humanities

Course Name Course Number Programs
Basic Design IART-101
Basic Design IIART-102
Art AppreciationART-103
Visual ImageryART-115
Drawing IART-201
Painting IART-206
Ceramics IART-207
Painting IIART-246
Ceramics IIART-247
Career Analysis in EducationEDU-105
Foundations of EducationEDU-201
Adapting Instruction Diverse LearnersEDU-251
Teaching LaboratoryEDU-275
Special Topics in EducationEDU-292
Argumentation & Persuasive Research WritingENG-104
Children’s LiteratureENG-222
Health and Physical Education for the Elementary ClassroomHEA-209
World Civilizations to 1600'sHIS-105
World Civilizations Since Mid-1600'sHIS-106
American History Since 1865HIS-112
Journalism and Media StudiesJRN-101
Applied Music (Voice)MUS-129
Applied Music (Voice)MUS-130
Instrumental Music (Community Band)MUS-119A
Applied Music (Compos’n/Songwriting)MUS-135A
Introduction to The TheatreTHE-101
Fund. of Technical Theatre: StagecraftTHE-104
Fundamentals of Acting ITHE-105
Fundamentals of Technical Theatre: Lighting, Costume, SoundTHE-106
Fundamentals of Acting IITHE-107
Introduction to Stage DesignTHE-204

The Latest in OER Development at Garrett College

OER Resources


open educational resources