OER Innovation Quest applications open

A graphic of a superhero teacher flying through the air — The OER Innovation Quest encourages instructors to banish high-cost student materials.

The high cost of textbooks and course materials is one factor that can influence student success. Open Educational Resources, or OER, are free-to-access textbooks and other course materials that instructors can use in their courses to provide more equitable learning opportunities for students.

OER have been shown to impact student performance and retention, especially for low-income and first-generation students. UAF courses with assigned materials totaling less than $40 are tagged as “NoLo” (No or Low-Cost Textbooks) in UAF course schedule descriptions. In 2021, students saved $147,000 in course materials.

Join the OER Innovation Quest and become an education superhero by saving your students money on textbooks and materials! Implementing OER in a course or program requires imagination, creativity and innovation. The OER Innovation Quest is a real-life game for UAF instructors to conquer open education resources and banish high-cost materials for students in their course. The Quest runs from Feb. 8 - May 18.

Find more details and the application at UAF’s Open Education website. Space is limited to 10 participants. The deadline to apply is Feb. 4.

For more information, contact Jen Moss at jlmoss@alaska.edu.