After twenty-five years, Timothy Maldonado returned to school last year to better his job prospects. Now in his second year at West Hills College Lemoore (WHCL) in California, he is majoring in Sociology and is active in several clubs on campus to assist students struggling with food insecurity and disabilities. Tim understands the challenge of balancing college costs with family needs and has experienced firsthand the advantage of taking classes where the instructor has replaced expensive commercial textbooks with OER textbooks.
“The textbooks are free, which is a big benefit for me because I’m a grandparent, I’m a parent, so all the money that I’m saving on textbooks helps me with my house, with bills, transportation, and childcare.”
Tim was one of eight students selected to join the recently launched OER Student Advocacy Network which aims to develop and empower current higher education students in California to become effective advocates for OER. The initial team is composed of students from California’s community colleges and state universities who have directly experienced the benefits of OER at their campus and have expressed an interest in advocacy to other colleges and universities.
OER Benefits and Challenges
Tim first heard about OER in spring 2018 when his Sociology instructor, Dr. Vera Kennedy, was writing an OER textbook for their course.
“Before I became aware of OER courses through my mentor, I had already dropped several classes because I couldn’t afford a $235 book. I have kids, I have a wife, I have responsibilities that a lot of the younger students don’t have.”
Dr. Kennedy explained to the students that they would not have to purchase an expensive textbook as she was in the process of writing their textbook. All of Tim’s sociology classes at WHCL have used OER. This has allowed him to download and build a digital library of open textbooks pertinent to his discipline of sociology. He plans to use this library for future reference as he continues his studies.
One of the challenges Tim faced as a returning student is the technology skills that are now a requirement for applying and attending college; this includes the use of OER textbooks that are online. He reports that he is not technologically inclined:
“One of the barriers that I’ve faced coming back to school after so long is technology. Open Educational Resources are online, it’s technology, it forces me to address what would be a hindrance in my education.”
Last semester, Tim was asked to give a presentation to the state Chancellor about OER on campus. He was excited to share his experiences and how it has helped him to reduce his work hours and be successful in college. After the presentation, he was asked about his interest in a new OER internship position. With the generous funding of the Michelson 20MM Foundation, the OER Student Advocacy Network was founded and two students from WHCL were chosen:
“We now have two OER advocates at WHCL, myself and Ashley Chavez. It has given me the opportunity to learn more about the full benefits of OER and how to pass that knowledge on to other students.”
OER Student Advocacy Network
The student network was launched last month at the Beyond Textbook Affordability Summit, co-sponsored by the California State University’s Affordable Learning Solutions and the Community College Chancellor Office’s Zero Textbook Cost Degree project. Under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Illowsky, De Anza College, and Dean James Glapa-Grossklag, College of the Canyons, a kick-off meeting was held and the students participated in a panel at the summit.
Goals for the students include: developing a toolkit for student OER advocates, improving their ability to advocate for OER awareness on their own campuses, and enlisting other students and student governments to promote OER to faculty. In addition, the students will speak at academic conferences and submit articles to newspapers, with the aim of encouraging other institutions to engage their students in OER initiatives.
This project will also empower students with coaching and mentoring on skills such as public speaking, writing formal resolutions, and developing promotional campaigns. Overall, this experience will engage and develop future leaders and place them firmly within the OER advocacy world.
What’s next?
Besides participating in the OER Student Advocacy network, Tim is also planning to reach out to faculty at his college who are not currently using OER. He plans to ask them about the relevance of their current textbook to their students’ lives. A majority of WHCL students’ families are immigrants or farm laborers with limited financial resources. One of the questions he would like to ask these instructors:
“As an instructor, I would believe that you would want to do everything possible to help students succeed in their educational dreams. If OER was available for you when you were beginning your degree would you have wanted … that opportunity?
In addition to reducing costs, Tim has found that his instructors using OER are more specific about what he needs to read and understand in the textbook before taking a quiz or writing a paper. Previously, he might have read pages of information that were not pertinent to what he needs to learn but now he can zero in on key concepts. He can always go back and read the extra material after he has completed an assignment.
About
Timothy Maldonado is majoring in Sociology at West Hills College Lemoore and plans to transfer to a California State University to complete his Bachelor’s degree. He hopes to use this degree to work in the community to improve the lives of those struggling with addiction and other difficult life situations.
Dr. Vera Kennedy is a Sociology and Teacher Education professor at West Hills College Lemoore and an adjunct faculty at Fresno State University. She is a longtime adopter and advocate of open education and has authored two open textbooks.
West Hills College Lemoore is a community college located in the heart of California’s Central Valley and is designated as a Hispanic-serving institution. Awarded both an OER Degree grant from Achieving the Dream and a California Zero Textbook Cost Degree grant, they also co-lead the Technical Assistance for the twenty-three community colleges in the California initiative.
Michelson 20MM Foundation supports and invests in leading-edge entrepreneurs, technologies, and initiatives with the potential to transform learning and improve access to educational opportunities that lead to meaningful careers. Michelson 20MM was founded thanks to the generous support of renowned inventor and spinal surgeon Dr. Gary K. Michelson, and his wife, Alya Michelson. Learn more at www.20mm.org.
OER Student Advocacy Network was launched in February 2019 under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Illowsky, De Anza College professor, and Dean James Glapa-Grossklag, College of the Canyons, with support from Michelson 20MM Foundation. This project aims to develop and empower current higher education students in California to become effective advocates for OER through peer-to-peer mentoring in public speaking, writing formal resolutions, and developing promotional campaigns.