Explore what’s possible when knowledge is shared.
This guide is your starting point for exploring Open Educational Resources (OER) and the movement toward more affordable, adaptable, and equitable learning. OER are more than free textbooks, they’re an invitation to shape education in ways that fit your courses, your students, and your community.
No matter your role, teaching, learning, supporting, or simply caring about access, you are welcome here. The OER team is ready to help you discover resources, adapt them to your needs, or even create something new. Think of this as both a toolkit and a doorway: a place to explore, ask questions, and imagine what openness could mean for you at UTA.
This interactive book introduces the UTA community’s shared foundation for understanding Open Educational Resources (OER). Developed through nearly two years of collaboration with faculty, students, and campus partners, it’s designed as your very first step into open education at UTA.
Inside, you’ll learn what makes a resource “open,” why OER matter for affordability and equity, how open licensing works, and where to go next on your Trailblazers journey.
The OER Trailblazers Badge Program is a self-paced Canvas experience where you learn about OER through authentic practice and reflection. Each badge marks a milestone in your journey, helping you build skills, connect with the UTA community, and gain recognition you can share on your résumé, LinkedIn, or in class.
➡️ Learn More About the Badge Program
Choose from a collection of open learning materials—books, articles, guides, and interactives—designed to help you explore OER on your own terms. Whether you want a quick overview or a deeper dive, these resources are always available and ready when you are.
Keep your OER journey going by connecting with others across campus.
OpenEd Commons at UTA on Microsoft Teams – Be part of the conversation, share ideas, and hear the latest updates in real time.
Ask the OER Team – Have a question or need support? Reach out anytime—we’re here to help.
OER Community Events – Workshops, showcases, and receptions that bring Mavericks together to celebrate and grow open education.
At UTA, we talk about “cost avoidance” as the money students don’t have to spend on textbooks when courses adopt open or low-cost materials. To help visualize that impact, we’ve created two interactive calculators, one for faculty and one for students.
Use the tabs above to open the Faculty Calculator or the Student Calculator and see the impact from your perspective.
Faculty OER Cost Avoidance Calculator
This tool helps instructors see the ripple effect of replacing a single textbook with OER or other affordable course materials.
How it works: Faculty enter the number of students per section, check the semesters they teach (Fall, Spring, Summer), and add how many sections they typically offer each term. They can use UTA’s average per-student savings ($116 for no-cost, $92 for low-cost) or plug in the actual cost of their current textbook.
What it tells you: The calculator projects annual and multi-year savings for students, showing the tangible impact of one adoption across multiple sections and years. It helps faculty see that even small shifts in one course can translate into thousands of dollars saved.
This version helps students estimate their own potential savings from OER adoption.
How it works: Students enter the number of courses they’re taking each semester, how many use OER or low-cost materials, and how many semesters they’d like to project across. They can use UTA’s average textbook costs or input the actual prices they’ve paid.
What it tells you: The calculator shows per-semester savings, a multi-semester projection, and a comparison of what savings would look like if all their courses used OER. It makes the personal, semester-by-semester impact of OER more concrete.
Together, these tools highlight the affordability spectrum from both perspectives:
Both calculators drive home the same message: every adoption adds up. Discovery leads to adoption, and adoption leads to meaningful affordability outcomes for Mavericks.
How much of an impact would replacing a textbook in one course have on students' cost avoidance?
Projection uses: students per section × total sections per year × per-student savings. Helpful for estimating annual and multi-year impact from replacing one textbook with OER or a low-cost option.
What Could OER Save You?
This estimates how much you avoid spending on textbooks when some of your courses use OER (no cost) or low-cost materials. Per-semester savings = (No-cost courses × baseline cost) + (Low-cost courses × low-cost savings).
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