Internet Learning Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2017/Winter 2018 | Page 40

Internet Learning Journal • Volume 6, Number 2 • Fall 2017/Winter 2018
Access to Information Doesn’t Have to Come
with a Pretty Cover and a Price Tag
Kate Brannum and Nicole K. Drumhiller
American Public University System
Abstract
This article discusses the motivations, actions, and lessons learned
from a project we undertook to transition from textbooks to Open
Educational Resources (OERS) in all of the international relations
and intelligence studies courses at our online university. While it
was not difficult to convince some colleagues of the logic of our
arguments, we received some resistance from others who felt the
challenges were too great. However, we saw moving to OERs as
an opportunity not only to help lower-income students receive the
same access to course materials as wealthier classmates but also to
teach life-long information literacy skills to all students. The impact
of choosing OERs can go beyond the years students are at university.
There is a more profound access issue at stake here. We do
not know what the financial future of our students will be, but we
can be certain that a reasonable number of them will face financial
straits at some point. We need to teach and model ways for our
students to access knowledge in the most affordable ways possible.
Keywords: OERs, textbooks, informational literacy
El acceso a la información no tiene que tener
ni carátula bonita, ni etiqueta de precio
Resumen
Este artículo discute las motivaciones, acciones y lecciones aprendidas
durante un proyecto que realizamos para la transición de libros
de texto a Recursos Educativos Abiertos (OERS) en todas las
clases de relaciones internacionales y de estudios de inteligencia en
nuestra universidad en línea. Aunque no fue difícil convencer a al-
39
doi: 10.18278/il.6.2.4