To celebrate Open Education Week 2022, San Mateo County (Calif.) Community College District and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) are hosting a Zoom-based conversation about Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) opportunities for Career and Technical Education.

You can join the Zoom meeting here: https://smccd.zoom.us/j/84255431012.

What are Zero Textbook Cost pathways?

Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) pathways give college students a clear path to a credential without having to purchase textbooks. Open Educational Resources (OER)–one of whose benefits is that they are free to use–are an important component of ZTC pathways.

Why is ZTC important to Durham Tech?

In summary, eliminating textbook costs for students improves their completion and success rates in courses. Durham Tech’s Strategic Plan says, in part

Pathways to Student Success

Provide pathways to student success by investing in success coaching, advising, and student development best practices that support goal discernment and achievement, leading to on-time completion [emphasis mine], university transfer, and job placement.

And, as I have reported before, OER help address the problem of the cost of attending college by reducing textbook costs. While instructors cannot do anything about the cost of tuition and student fees, they can relieve students’ financial pressures with respect to textbooks.

Research has shown that open textbooks provide tangible benefits compared with their commercial counterparts. Instructors and students report finding OER textbooks on the whole to be as good as or better than commercial textbooks. Students whose classes rely on OER are more likely to remain in those classes and to enroll in more credits over time. [emphasis mine]

I plan to attend today’s program and hope you can too!