Zero Textbook Cost
Overview
Skyline College recognizes the continued high cost of textbooks as a barrier that impacts student success. Inability to afford textbooks and course materials is an equity issue and it can be addressed through Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) & Open Educational Resources (OER) adoption. As part of our College Redesign, the primary goal of Skyline College Textbook Affordability Solutions is to reduce educational costs for students by providing free or low-cost learning materials that are available from day-one of their class and customizable to fit their learning needs.
What is ZTC?
Zero textbook cost (ZTC) means that students do not incur any costs for purchasing
course materials. Zero-cost to the students does not guarantee zero-cost to the institution,
i.e. subscription databases, library equipment loans. To create a ZTC course, instructors
might use Open Educational Resources (OER); Open Access, Creative Commons, and public
domain materials, along with teacher-created materials and electronic resources owned
or licensed by the Skyline College Library.
ZTC materials include:
What is OER?
OERs are free or low cost teaching and learning materials that are licensed, often
under an OER License term, to allow users to retain a copy of the content and reuse,
revise, remix and redistribute it. OERs can include textbooks, videos, tests, entire
courses, course modules, and syllabi. Why use Open Educational Resources? OERs are
free, ready-to-use content for your classes. Creators and users are free to retain
rights, reuse content, remix content, revise content, or redistribute content.
OER Materials may include:
- Textbooks
- Course readings, articles, and journals
- Course packs
- Quizzes
- Streaming videos
- Virtually any other material used for educational purposes
For more information on ZTC and OER resources, please visit our For Faculty page or For Students page!
ZTC at Skyline
Zero Textbook Cost materials (ZTC) and Open Educational Resources (OER) are changing the way our instructors teach and our students learn. ZTC and OER classes provide students with immediate use of digital textbooks! They are available online - anywhere, anytime. ZTC & OER materials remain available to students long after the end of the semester. ZTC and OER materials are often available to students at NO cost!
Student Voice - Student Climate Survey 2018 Summary*
We asked Skyline College students what they thought about textbooks costs. Here is what they had to say:
Student Impact Banner is derivative of SUNY OER Services and unless otherwise noted,
all content on this webpage is licensed under CC BY 4.0