Michelson Spark Grants - Open Educational Resources (OER)

Michelson Spark Grants - Open Educational Resources (OER) is sponsored by Michelson 20MM Foundation. Aims to enhance affordable, equitable, and high-quality educational experiences through the use of OER, focusing on underserved communities in California.

Open Educational Resources - Michelson 20MM Open Educational Resources Eliminating the cost of learning materials as a barrier to student success. We work to rebalance the educational content market and shift stakeholder culture toward a new steady state where the quality, prevalence, and utilization of open educational resources has effectively eliminated the cost of learning materials as a barrier to student success.

Educate decision makers on the current instructional materials landscape Support research on the educational content market Advocate for the increased use and proliferation of OER as a barrier-breaking modality Increase the affordability of and access to instructional materials 7 in 10 students are worried about meeting their course material costs. 57% of students took fewer courses due to course material costs.

31% of students reported failing a course due to course material costs. Promoting Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Degree Pathways We support the expansion and permanent funding of ZTC Degree Pathways at two-year institutions with the goal of unburdening millions of financially vulnerable students from costly traditional publisher materials. The initial 2016 pilot program saved students $43 million.

Supporting a Robust OER Market and Ecosystem We invest in the creation of high-quality OER and in the strengthening of market infrastructure critical to the discovery, sharing, licensing, customization, and continued proliferation of open content.

Protecting Students from Harmful Textbook Industry Practices We combat the predatory practices of the oligopolistic publishing industries with the creation of a more transparent, competitive, affordable, and student-centered educational marketplace. OpenStax provides free, peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks for post-secondary students.

The nonprofit ed tech initiative is a Michelson 20MM grantee based at Rice University and is committed to helping students access the tools they need to complete their courses and meet their educational goals. The OER program launched in 2010 with a goal of disrupting the traditional textbook industry.

Michelson 20MM gave a catalytic grant to Connections, now widely known as OpenStax, out of Rice University to help create an open educational resource ecosystem. OpenStax launched their first textbook in 2012, and has since grown its current offerings to a library of 70+ free resources, which have been used by over 36 million students across 150 countries. To date, OpenStax has saved students $2.

9B through their free, openly licensed textbooks.

Open Educational Resources 2026 Open Educational Resources Spark Grants Informational Webinar Open Educational Resources Open Educational Resources Spark Grants 2025 Funding Cycle Informational Webinar Open Educational Resources 2024 Open Educational Resources Spark Grants Informational Webinar “The knowledge itself has been helpful in working with faculty who have questions about licensing and related topics.

But also the networking with colleagues from around the state was probably the best part of the bootcamp - it was a huge morale boost and gave me new ideas for how to grow OER work on our campus. It has provided me with knowledge and tools to help my campus coordinate efforts to develop ZTC courses and raise awareness about the benefits of open licenses, open access to knowledge, and open pedagogy.

” Feedback from the Creative Commons Bootcamp Open Educational Resources Advancing Affordable Learning: Introducing the 2026 OER Spark Grant Recipients Open Educational Resources Announcing the 2026 Open Educational Resources Spark Community Advisors Building a More Equitable Future: 2025 Highlights from Michelson 20MM Open Educational Resources How OER is Transforming Education: Insights From the OpenEd Conference The Michelson 20MM Foundation is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you requested from us.

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