I have reviewed many free textbooks, called "Open Educational Resources (OER). But I never adopted one because the quality is poor, in my opinion. A better option is called "Inclusive Access". This is where the student gets access to an eBook on the first day of class and a small fee is added to their student fees. In my experience, the cost of the eBook for Inclusive Access is about $45.
Paul Stock Thank you for sharing your experience, Paul. Your concerns about the quality of many OER materials are valid—while the open-access model holds promise, uneven curation and limited pedagogical depth in some resources can make adoption challenging, especially for instructors committed to maintaining high academic standards.
That said, Inclusive Access does offer a more structured and predictable alternative. The immediate availability of course materials and lower costs compared to traditional textbooks are clear benefits. However, some critics raise concerns about student choice, opt-out barriers, and long-term access, since students often lose access after the term ends.
Perhaps the ideal path forward lies in hybrid models—where we actively collaborate with OER creators to improve quality, while using Inclusive Access when robust, peer-reviewed content is essential. It may also be worth advocating for institutional support to develop high-quality OER, so we can widen access without compromising academic rigor.
Have you come across any OER projects that showed more promise in terms of quality or collaborative improvement?
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