Overview
Cañada College recognizes the continued high cost of textbooks and course materials as a barrier that impacts student success.
An increasing number of Cañada faculty are utilizing zero textbook cost (ZTC) materials and/or open educational resources (OER) for their classes.
Instructors understand that barriers to affordable textbooks and course materials are an equity issue that can be addressed by using course materials available to students at no-cost or lower-cost.
What is ZTC?
S.B. 1359 states Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course materials “may include open educational resources, institutionally licensed campus library materials that all students enrolled in the course have access to use, and other properly licensed and adopted materials.”
Zero textbook cost (ZTC) also 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 Cañada College Library.
What is LTC?
This is a Low Textbook Cost (LTC) course. The total cost of required instructional
materials for this course is less than $40.
What is OER?
Open Educational Resources (OER) are high-quality teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license, such as a Creative Commons license, that permits their free use and repurposing by others, and may include other resources that are legally available and free of cost to students. (Hewlett)
OER Materials may include:
- Textbooks
- Course readings, articles, and journals
- Course packs
- Quizzes
- Streaming videos
- Virtually any other material used for educational purposes
Why use Open Educational Resources? OER 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.
For more information on ZTC and OER resources, please visit our For Faculty page or For Students page!
Why choose ZTC & LTC classes?
Zero-Textbook Cost courses can benefit students in a variety of ways. Some of these benefits include:
- Significant Cost Savings: Students know how expensive and cost-prohibitive textbooks can be. ZTC and LTC provide no-cost or low-cost course materials that can make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone.
- Flexibility for all learning styles: Students have the option of accessing ZTC electronic content online, downloading to your preferred device, accessing through the Cañada Library, printing a hard copy of a portion of the material, or purchasing a lower cost print version through the Cañada Bookstore.
- Day 1 Access: ZTC and LTC course materials are available to students on day 1 of class through their Canvas course shells.
- Accessibility: Most ZTC course materials, especially Open Educational Resources (OER), have multiple levels of accessibility checks. This means that students who use adaptive technology can greatly, if not fully, access the materials.
- Customization by Faculty: Most ZTC class sessions use OER, which are textbooks that faculty can customize to their students and their programs. This includes a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
- Free Access…for Everyone!: ZTC class sections use course materials that are free to access for ALL students, regardless of enrollment status, county of residency, or program of study.
- Long Shelf Life: Most course materials in ZTC class sections are available on the open internet, meaning everyone can access the materials well beyond the end of the semester.