Savings come wherever one can find them, and for many LTC students, that’s through what’s called “open educational resources.” That refers to such options as free online textbooks, videos, and other learning tools that reside in the public domain. Because of the public domain status, access is free of restrictions that apply to copyrighted works and textbooks, thereby saving an average of $105 per textbook according to a study by the Education Data Initiative. LTC says that those savings have amounted to $2.1 million since 2018.
LTC makes the learning resources available free of charge, with students able to download materials to their electronic devices. The college library also offers hard copies of the materials for checkout for those who work better from a handheld, printed format.
LTC President Dr. Paul Carlsen said that “Access to open educational resources is valuable to our students not only for the cost savings, but also because these resources tend to be timelier and more relevant to industry than textbooks from the traditional ivory tower.”
Instructors for more than 180 LTC courses have eliminated textbook costs by adopting open educational resources. Because all students can access materials on the first day of class, there is no need to wait for bookstore shipments, or for financial aid awards.
More information is available at gotoltc.edu
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