Students, parents, faculty, and administrators are painfully aware of the high cost of traditional textbooks. Faculty are also aware that commercial teaching resources may be unnecessarily restrictive from a teaching point of view.

As educators, there are many compelling reasons to participate in the use and development of open education resources (OER). Open education resources provide a cost-free alternative to traditional textbooks and facilitate important pedagogical opportunities. Faculty using OER in their teaching may select, combine, and even adapt the content to develop the most effective course materials. While OER can offer increased freedom for faculty and cost savings for students, there are challenges in using or developing open educational resources. This talk will discuss some of the benefits of OER to faculty and students, examples of how OER is being used, and suggest strategies for overcoming challenges.