MC Open: No Textbook Purchases Required
Through our MC Open initiative, students can take courses and even earn a degree without spending any money on textbooks. These Z-courses and Z-degrees make use of Open Educational Resources (OER)—teaching and learning materials freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student, or self-learner. Montgomery College is committed to providing OER course options leading to degree completion (commonly called Z-degrees).
The MC Open initiative aims to:
- Encourage faculty to redesign courses using OER and other free resources that engage, connect and support student learning.
- Make education more affordable by reducing or eliminating required costs for course materials.
- Improve affordability and provide clear paths to degree completion.
Course Offerings and Programs
Z-courses are courses for which all textbook materials are available at no cost for the section. For labs and art courses, all textbook materials are available at no cost, but you may need to purchase other course materials and supplies. Regular internet access is required for access to materials.
In Z-courses, your instructor will make textbook materials available online via their Blackboard site or some other central location online. You will need regular access to the internet to download and read text materials. In some Z-courses, printed copies of the text may be available for purchase, if you choose. In other cases, you may be able to print materials via the College WEPA system, for cost, if you choose. However, these courses are designed to primarily use electronic materials.
Z-degrees are recommended pathways that allow you to complete all the requirements for a degree by taking Z-courses.
Currently, MC offers eight Z-degrees, and we are working to develop more Z-degrees.
- Business new window
- Communications new window
- Criminal Justice new window
- Early Childhood Education Technology new window
- General Studies new window (4)
Students can also complete a Z-certificate for:
Resources
The goal of Open Education Week is to raise awareness about free and open educational opportunities that exist for everyone, everywhere, right now. Montgomery College wants to highlight how open education can help people meet their goals in education, whether that’s to develop skills and knowledge for work, supporting formal studies, learning something new for personal interest, or looking for additional teaching resources.
Go to the Open Education Week new window website for additional details including events for the week.
The Open Pedagogy Fellowship is designed to assist faculty with creating three renewable assignments (all of which will have a Creative Commons license) that offer students an opportunity to become agents of change in their community. For more information, visit the UNSDG Open Pedagogy Fellowship new window website.
Faculty, please contact MC Online if you have other questions regrading OER that you don't see below in the FAQs.
I would begin a conversation with these schools, telling them that you are considering an Open textbook. Ask them what their approach to OERs is and how much of an issue would it be to swap the current textbook for an Open Textbook. Or find an Open Textbook in your area and suggest it to them and ask for feedback. Or, you could ask if they would like to co-develop an Open Textbook and pursue that.
No, unfortunately, some disciplines do not have a lot of OERs at this time. This could be for numerous reasons, such as: 1) the subject is not widely taught so there are fewer people who contribute to OERs in their field; 2) their curriculum is heavily influenced, possibly even regulated, by forces outside their control and they, for all intents and purposes, must use the materials they have. An example of this is any department which is preparing their students for licensure exams.
No, use of OERs is at the discretion of the faculty member in most cases. Where a textbook is mandated by the instructor’s department the use of an Open textbook is not an option. However, other types of OER content is available in most subject areas and faculty are encouraged to investigate their possible uses in their courses.
Yes, you can link to anything for free. But you should cite all links in your course and include them in a general Reference list in your syllabus or some other document that students can see.
Only MERLOT new windowkeeps that information at present, and just for Merlot learning objects.
If you need assistance with locating OERs or with Creative Commons licensing issues, please contact MC Online.
Pressbooks is a digital publishing platform that gives educators freedom and control to develop learning materials that fit their evolving classroom and student needs. Using Pressbooks you can create your own resources, or easily find and adapt existing open resources for your students and learning outcomes.
- Discover existing open resources using the Pressbooks Directory new window. Adopt them as is or easily adapt for your classroom needs.
- Create content in this user-friendly platform and enrich it with videos, multimedia, formative quizzes and more.
- Connect by integrating your course material into your learning management system and enable grade passback using Press books Results.
- Interactive textbooks new window
- Student-led publishing new window
- High enrollment subject new window
These are just a few examples of the types of learning materials you can create with Pressbooks. Faculty can learn more by visiting the Montgomery College Pressbooks Network new window or connect with Dr. Christine Crefton.
