Library Home: Affordable Learning Solutions: Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$)

What is AL$?

Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative empowers students to continue their education through the use of low/no-cost learning resources to bridge some of the material that is not covered in their courses. The initiative's core principles emphasize:

Choice - Enabling the discovery of course content, including low-cost publisher content, library resources, and a wide array of open educational resources (OER).
Affordability - Reducing the cost of learning materials for students and the CSU.
Accessibility - Prioritizing access to a quality education and all learning materials.

You can learn more about the initiative and what qualifies as an AL$ alternative by reading this LibGuide.

Also, you can familiarize yourself with CSUB's AL$ initiatives by viewing the following:

CSUB ALS Faculty Showcase

CSUB AL$ Faculty Showcases in Merlot

CSU Affordable Learning Solutions

Low-Cost Course Materials & OER

Low-Cost Course Materials
can be described as and delivered in many ways and formats including but not limited to:

Immediate Access Programs
Equitable Access / Flat-fee Programs
Digital textbooks
OER
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.
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The most widely used model for open licensing of resources has been created by the Creative Commons organization. The Creative Commons licensing model allows creators of works to keep their ownership yet at the same time defining under which conditions their work can be openly used. The following picture provides a good overview of the various CC licenses and the possibilities of combining them:

Examples of Low/No-Cost Learning Resources (AL$)

Course Reserve book
Scanned book chapter or article
OER books & materials
Looking for an OER alternative to a courses book? Search Merlot with the ISBN to locate a similar resource.
Digital Textbooks
Print Textbooks (Used , Rental, or Loose Leaf)
Adaptive Learning or Platforms-Tools
also known as online homework systems, they use comprehensive online curriculum resources that personalizes the education experience, so you can achieve measurable learning outcomes, and enable collaborative learning.
Custom Course Readers, Materials, or Textbooks
these may include your own materials or works from other sources including articles, sections of books, images, graphs, open educational resources, quizzes or anything you require to teach your course. They can be made available in print and be made available in digital format which allows for the inclusion of audio, video, and hyperlinks.
Enhanced OER
OER that has been enhanced/integrated and may include similar interactive capabilities as interactive e-Textbooks, such as the ability to access multimedia content including embedded videos and interactive presentations and hyperlinks. Testing, assessment tools and the ability to customize the OER content. Some vendors have adapted OER into more enhanced solutions which will include a fee.
Immediate Access Programs
course specific programs that allow students to have access to their digital course materials on the first day of class at no cost through typically the add/drop date. Students make the choice of whether to purchase the digital content or opt out and purchase their course materials elsewhere. Digital textbooks in these programs may be discounted 60% percent or more from print rental and print purchase price or discounted up to 25%-60% from the already low digital rental price.
Equitable Access or Flat-fee Programs
This concept is not broadly implemented in the CSU due to Executive Order 1102 which addresses student fees. However, a few campuses are piloting the flat-fee concept by providing the funding for the students' materials in their first year or permitting the students to opt-out of the program. Typically, the bookstore determines a flat fee that covers all course materials' needs for each term.

Why Use OER or Low-Cost Resources?

Equity
The expanding implementation of affordable learning solutions is contributing to many CSU students having equitable access to course materials on the first day of class.
Retention
Low or no cost course materials are also supporting the retention and completion of coursework enabling more faculty and students to experience the positive impact of affordable learning solutions.
Student Savings
A survey conducted by SUNY found that more than half (61.9%) of SUNY Oneonta students have chosen not to get the required textbook for a course in past. One student stated:
“It is very stressful on my bank account when I buy multiple books for a course, and only need to read 1-4 chapters from each book.”
Class Design
Requiring students to buy a textbook means an obligation to teach to its goals. Conversely, OER can be edited to meet the course-specific goals for the class.
Access
60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid. Use of OER can ensure all students have the materials they need on the first day of class.

Faculty Development Materials

OER & Open Textbooks (Cal Poly Humboldt)
This resource from Cal Poly Humboldt provides information on Creative Commons License Conditions, resources to locate OER materials, and information on the financial burden students face when obtaining learning materials for college coursework.

CSUB Faculty Showcase

OER Showcase @ Merlot
This is a collection of Bakersfield faculty adoptions of OER showcases that are affiliated with the CSU Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative. Feel free to browse and learn about what CSUB faculty have created and contributed.

CSU AL$ Research

Textbook broke: Textbook affordability as a social justice issue.
This study offered the first empirical evidence of textbook affordability’s influence on historically underserved college students. Its results revealed textbook costs to have a disproportionate impact on racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, and first-generation college students; thus, confirming textbook affordability as a redistributive justice issue.
openCI White Paper: Textbook Affordability and Student Success for Historically Underserved Populations at CSUCI
Statistical analysis revealed textbook prices to be a significant educational barrier for all CSUCI students, with a disproportionately negative effect among racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, and first-generation college students.
Instructor and student experiences with open textbooks, from the California open online library for education (Cool4Ed)
Faculty reported that cost savings was the most important motivation for adopting open textbooks, and that students most often reported this as what they appreciated about open textbooks. The vast majority of faculty also reported that the quality of the textbooks was as good or better than that of traditional textbooks, and that students did as well or better in terms of learning outcomes and withdrawal rates compared to when the same courses were run with traditional textbooks.
White Paper OER Adoption Study: Using Open Educational Resources in the College Classroom

Affordable Learning Solutions

Impact of Textbook Costs

Student Experience with OER at San Francisco State University