Zero Textbook Cost Resources (ZTC/OER/LTC)

5/13/2025

• The Cal OER Conference is coming August 6-8th. The theme is "Beyond the Horizon: Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling Open Education". This conference will be held virtually. Registration will be $25 and is opening soon.
• The DE Newsletter is still including original articles on OER. Don't forget to check them out!
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• Dance Studies: Choreographing Dance and Life. What is dance? Dance is more than movement. “Dance is a transient mode of expression, performed in a given form and style by the human body moving in space. Dance occurs through purposefully selected and controlled rhythmic movements; the resulting phenomenon is recognized as dance by both the performer and the observing members of a given group”
• New, ASCCC OERI Image Album. OER licensed images.

• • Annual Cal OER Conference: Virtual, August 6-8. Registration costs $25. 
  • Empowering Access: Open Educational Resources and ZTC Resources for Computer Science and Information Technology & Information Systems. May 23, 11 am – 12 pm.  
  • Teaching and Companion Resources: LibreTexts Commons as a Repository for Ancillary Materials. May 23, 12 pm – 1 pm.  

4/1/2025

• The Cal OER Conference is coming August 6-8th. The theme is "Beyond the Horizon: Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling Open Education". This conference will be held virtually. Registration will be $25 and is opening soon.
• The Michelson 20 MM Foundation is looking for student leaders passionate about breaking barriers to education to join its 2025 Fellowship Cohort.As a Fellow, students will use organizing, research, and direct advocacy to build the movement for equity in higher education. Participating students are paired with issue area experts for one-on-one mentorship as they build their fellowship project. Fellows will be provided with several training elements, professional development, hourly pay, and sponsored conference attendance/presentation opportunities. The deadline to apply is May 6th, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Read more about the Fellowship and access the application.
• OERI is still seeking OER discipline leads in Counseling, Humanities, Music, and Social Justice Studies. If interested, you can apply here; or contact OERI with questions:oeri@asccc.org
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• Introduction to African American Studies: New OER providing a comprehensive and interdisciplinary exploration of Black Studies.

• LibreTexts's ADAPT Homework Platform and the new Discuss-It: April 16, 3-4 pm. Discover how ADAPT empowers instructors to create interactive, engaging, and customizable OER assessments.
• Project Management Basics: Planning your OER Project: April 18, 1-2 pm.
• Building Community with OERs: Collaborative Course Design and Faculty Partnerships. April 22, 9-10 am.
• Leveling Up Education: Using OER to Gamify Education: April 24, 12-1 pm.

3/3/2025

• MVC has received new ZTC grant funds for Early Childhood Education, Psychology, and Computer Information Science.
• The state will also be dispersing another round of $320,000 in ZTC grant funds to each community college, to fund the creation of additional ZTC degree/certificate pathways. The Course Materials Affordability Committee will be working to identify partners and create a plan for utilizing these funds.
• The Dental Assisting program will be moving to ZTC for their Class of 2026! This is a huge achievement and great news for our students!
• The ASCCC OERI is looking for OER advocates to serve as discipline leads. Discipline leads receive a $500 stipend each term. You can contact them at oeri@asccc.org if you are interested. They're currently looking for discipline leads in many subjects including: Addiction Studies, Counseling, Data Science, Education, English, ESL, Geography, Health, History, Humanities, Music, Nutrition, and Social Justice Studies.
• The fifth annual CAL OER Conference will be held virtually on Aug 6-8. Registration opens soon.
• Lastly, I'll be teaching a workshop on Anti-racism in OER during the Diversity Summit!

• Artificial Intelligence and OER: Shaping the Future of Learning in the California Community Colleges. March 7th, 10:30-11:30 am.
• Art and Art History OERs: Finding, Adopting, and Tracking. March 12, 10 am - 11 am.
• Anatomy and Physiology Courses: Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Getting to Zero. March 14, 10 am - 11 am.
• Applying the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism Framework to OERs: Human Anatomy. March 20, 2 - 3 pm.
• Identifying Open Homework Needs and Challenges: What Do Chemistry Faculty Need to Make ZTC a Success? March 20, 3 pm - 4 pm.
• Integrating, Advancing, and Sustaining OER for Access and Equity: Exemplary Program Showcase. March 21st, 10:30-11:30 am.

10/9/2024

• The Course Materials Affordability Committee is meeting monday. We're always looking for new participants to attend our meetings! We're also still open for new applications for grants to convert your courses to ZTC. Email me for details.
• The state is still offering (through December) substantial ZTC grants for unique program areas, particularly programs not on this cohort list.
• New video ASL resources have been created by Melanie Nakaji at San Diego City College.
   
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• A Conversation About Applying for ZTC Acceleration and Other Grants: Oct 10, 12-1 pm.
• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism Framework Summer Pilot Program. Oct 18, 10:30-11:30 am.

8/22/2024

Hello everyone,

Welcome back for Fall!

Thank you for lending me your ears for a moment, for updates on OER and ZTC at MVC. 

Don't forget to check our ZTC LibGuide for resources and info. We also have a student-facing ZTC LibGuide now.

Updates from the World of ZTC:

• The Course Materials Affordability Committee is meeting monday. We're always looking for new participants to attend our meetings! We're also still open for new applications for grants to convert your courses to ZTC. 
• This Fall, 44.1% of MVC courses are ZTC! This is a significant increase (18 percentile) since last Fall! 
• In the Spring, we completed a student ZTC focus group with 11 participants. Here are some key findings:
  • 36% reported enrolling in courses incorrectly labeled as ZTC
  • 64% reported experiencing stress getting textbooks for their course "It's stressful looking at prices"
  • 100% reported using laptops to read electronic textbooks
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Upcoming Workshops:

• Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence and OER to Support Student Learning: Sept 6, 10:30-11:30 am. 
• Fall 2024 ZTC Program - An Overview and Update: Sept 20, 10:30-11:30 am. 

Need help with OER? Feel free to reach out for help with finding OER materials, editing OER materials, or reviewing licensing terms. OERI also has discipline leads that we can put you in touch with, who can help in your discipline area.