March 3rd through March 7th is International Open Education Week!
What is Open Education Week?
Every year in March, institutions across the globe celebrate Open Education Week (OE Week). Open Education is a movement to widen access to information “by removing barriers and making learning accessible, abundant, and customizable for all” (The European Commission, 2016). OE Week is a time to celebrate the institutional and individual work being done globally to share knowledge, and to encourage others to participate.
According to a 2024 Education Data Initiative study, “65% of students did not buy textbooks because of high prices, and 25% chose to skip essential expenses, like food, or take up extra shifts at work to cover textbook costs.”
Image Source: Making the Case for Open Educational Resources by C. Edward Watson and Rachel Rush-Marlowe: https://www.aacu.org/publication/making-the-case-for-open-educational-resources
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Data Statistics shows how the cost of educational textbooks rose sharply in contrast to the average cost of consumer goods starting in the 1970s. That rise, plus a lack of corresponding increase in pay, means that students are working more and making more sacrifices to afford their textbooks, or else going without.
Interactive chart outlines the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Educational Books and Supplies in U.S., City Average. Source: The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Data.
These are significant barriers to learning and thriving in an educational environment. UMass Boston’s mission is to advance “knowledge in partnership with the communities we serve, especially the historically marginalized.” These shocking statistics and UMass Boston’s imperative to address equitable access to higher education highlight the importance of addressing textbook affordability as a matter of social justice and educational necessity.
What is UMass Boston Doing for Open Education Week?
Every year, Healey Librarians engage with faculty, staff and students across campus to raise awareness about Open Educational Resources (OER) as important cost-saving resources, and to encourage faculty to implement their use in the classroom. This year, you can find information about OE week posted on our social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Faculty can find information sent to their emails via Healey Library’s weekly newsletter, Healey Headlines. Librarians will be tabling at the Campus Center and in Healey Library’s 2nd floor lobby. Collections and Scholarly Communications Librarians will be hosting virtual mini-workshops throughout the week called Beacon Bits to teach scholars how they can interact with and reuse openly licensed content for their research and publications. See our full schedule below to learn more about how you can get involved.
In 2024, librarians tabled at the Campus Center and in the lobby of Healey Library to engage with faculty, staff and students about their experiences with Open Educational Resources (OER). Students shared their exposure to affordable course materials, many indicating that they sought no-cost or lower-cost options for their current course materials.
Dean of Healey Library Stephanie Walker during Open Education Week tabling in 2024. She stands beside an interactive poster where students indicated their experiences with textbook costs for their courses at UMass Boston.
Open at UMass Boston
Open Education Week only raises awareness about affordable course materials during the first week of March. What else does UMass Boston do throughout the year to promote no-cost learning?
Course Marking in Wiser: As part of the larger statewide efforts to tackle the cost of course materials, UMass Boston has created a way to search for courses that have been designated low-cost and no-cost in the WISER system. This gives students agency in selecting their courses for the semester, allowing them to truly budget their semester without the shock of expensive added textbook costs.
Faculty OER Incentive Grant: As part of UMass Boston’s commitment to making course materials more affordable for students, the UMB OER Working group and the Provost sponsor an incentive grant for faculty who want to make their course materials no-cost for students. The grant supports faculty with financial incentive, a review of their current course material, copyright and licensing guidance, platform suggestions and troubleshooting, and more. For more information about the grant, visit the UMB OER incentive grant website.
Faculty Incentive Grant Applications Close THIS Friday March 7th
Faculty, don’t forget to apply for the OER Incentive Grant! Applications close end-of-day March 7th, 2025. Learn more and find the links to the applications on the OER website: https://www.umb.edu/library/open-education/oer-incentive-program/
For further resources about using Open Pedagogy in your classroom, visit the Open Pedagogy Portal hosted by the Open Education Network. This resource provides case studies, lesson plans, teaching and learning resources to help you make your learning environments more inclusive and sustainable.
Highlighting Faculty who use OER: Faculty who have successfully implemented use of no-cost course materials in their classes have been featured on Healey Library social media campaigns for their important work. View these examples from 2024, featuring faculty members Kathryn Archard and Susan Zup, both who took advantage of UMB’s OER grant to save their students money on textbooks.
It helps to hear from faculty who have used OER in their classrooms. Thomas Dimino, lecturer in Biology at UMB, participated in the Spring 2024 OER Incentive Grant. He wrote about his experience with using OER: “I was extremely happy with the overall quality of the materials I used, in many cases they were superior in terms of academic rigor and teaching tools”.
UMass Boston Biology Lecturer Thomas Dimino, who was a 2024 OER Incentive Grant Recipient.
Memberships:
Open Education Network (OEN): Healey Library is a member of the Open Education Network, which hosts an library of open textbooks that can be used for no-cost course materials.
LibreTexts: Healey Library is also a member of LibreTexts, which allows faculty to utilize and share open educational resources, including interactive textbooks, homework assignments, and ancillary materials.
Article Processing Charge Support
Healey Library supports efforts by authors to make their journal articles open. If you choose to make your publication open access, some journals may require the author to pay an article processing charge (APC), or publication fee. This fee can cost up to several thousand dollars, depending on the journal. Publishers justify the charge as necessary to cover their publishing costs. Some publishers provide a waiver or discount request for authors.
The Healey Library’s transformative (read-and-publish) agreements and support of subscribe-to-open (S2O) initiatives allow UMB corresponding authors to publish their articles open access at no cost (or, in select cases, at a reduced cost). The pie chart below shows how authors from a wide range of UMB departments, schools, and institutes are taking advantage of these agreements, as well as the fact that these agreements support both faculty and graduate students.
Image of a colorful pie chart titled “Total Value for UMB authors who took advantage of Healey Library’s Article Processing Charge support for calendar year 2024: $129,875.” APC use: 32% graduate students, 58% faculty. Visit Healey Library’s guide for more detailed information on all transformative (read-and-publish) agreements and support of subscribe-to-open (S2O) initiatives: https://umb.libguides.com/apc/publish/apc. Breakdown of the pie chart as follows: $26,410 MCNHS, $3,120 ICI, $53,295 CSM, $26,920 CLA, $11,130 CEHD, $5,450 SFE, $3,550 MGS.
Educational Resources:
Healey LibGuides: Healey Librarians have added dozens of resources to Healey Library Guides to help students and faculty alike locate open access resources for their scholarship. View a few of the Open Access Library Guides below:
Open Access
Publishing Open Access
Open Access Books, Journals and Repositories
Open Educational Resources
Open Access Primary Sources
Additionally, many subject-specific Library Guides include information about finding Open Access content related to that subject:
Open Access for Africa
Open Access for Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance
Open Access for American Studies
Open Access for Biology
These are just a few examples. Browse through Healey Library’s Research Guides page to find more information.
Full Calendar of Events 2025
Healey Library’s 2024 tabling event in the lobby of Healey Library.
Beacon Bits Mini-Workshops
Join Healey Library’s Scholarly Communications librarians for 30-minute Beacon Bits session at 12:00 pm on Zoom. See the full schedule below. Click the links below to register.
Monday 3/3: Is it Open? What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?
In this foundational session, we will provide a brief history of open and outline what makes an educational resource truly “open”. We will discover how these freely accessible resources can enhance teaching and learning while reducing costs for all involved.
Tuesday 3/4: How to Search for OER and OER Databases
Search for high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER) across major repositories and databases. This hands-on session will introduce you to trusted OER platforms, teach you effective search strategies, and help you locate the perfect materials for your teaching and learning needs.
Wednesday 3/5: Can I Use It? Understanding Creative Commons Licenses and Copyright
Navigate using, creating and adapting OER while complying with copyright laws. Learn about Creative Commons Licenses, ensure compliance when resharing, reusing, or adapting materials, and make informed decisions about licensing your own works.
Faculty Recognition Event
Join the Provost, Dean of Healey Library, and the most recent OER incentive grantees to hear about and celebrate their work at our virtual Faculty Recognition Event on Zoom from 12pm to 1pm.
Thursday 3/6: Click this link to join the Zoom event: Faculty Recognition Event
Tabling
Join us at Healey Library and the Campus Center tables to learn about OE week, grab some treats, and show us your support for using affordable course materials in your classes.
Wednesday 3/5: Healey Library 2nd floor lobby across from the Circulation Desk from 10am-12pm
Thursday 3/6: Campus Center near the food court from 2:30-3:30pm
Faculty Incentive Grant Applications Close Friday, March 7th!
Friday 3/7: Faculty, don’t forget to apply for the OER Incentive Grant! Applications close end-of-day March 7th, 2025. Learn more and find the links to the applications on the OER website: https://www.umb.edu/library/open-education/oer-incentive-program/
Already Using OER? Let us Know!
Have you been using no-cost course materials? We would love to hear about it. Fill out our OER in your Classroom Survey.
Have questions about OER? Contact the OER Working Group at open@umb.edu.