Journal of Online Learning Research and Practice Volume 7, Number 2, 2019 | Page 22

The APUS Open Educational Resources (OER) Conversion Project
APUS does not typically publish
registration data, but note that the
n for each of the above are substantial
and similar both pre- and post- OER
launch. Thus while the use of OERs may
not be definitively attributed to changes,
it does not appear to affect student
performance adversely.
The AIT team works with faculty
members and directors to address related
student, logistical, and other identified
problems quickly. APUS’s innovative
OER Conversion Project allows it to
increase students’ access to high-quality
educational resources while lowering
costs. The program aligns well with
the University’s mission to provide an
exemplary education through respected,
relevant, accessible, affordable, and
focused online programs that prepare
students for service and leadership in a
diverse global society.
Conclusion
Technology continues to evolve
and change higher education.
Although APUS should continue
experiencing decreasing ECM costs,
the rate at which those costs decline has
begun to decelerate because the institution
has converted most of the highest-registration,
highest-cost course
materials to OERs. For example, the
majority of the general education course
material changes have been completed.
In addition, feedback from students
with poor experiences and data indicating
poor student performance may
lead the University to reverse these
practices and revert to e-texts. Such
changes would undo prior savings realized
by conversions to OERs that adversely
affected the student experience.
So far, however, this has occurred just
once. Additional non-free—albeit lowcost—OERs
may be adopted in larger
numbers. For example, Lumen Learning
(https://lumenlearning.com/) has
$5, $10, and $25 math course options
available, with prices depending on the
courses’ features. Other publishers have
similar relatively low-cost offerings.
The APUS OER Conversion Project
has been a great success to-date—
one involving the concerted, sustained
efforts, and intense focus of multiple
departments across the University for
just over a year and a half. The results
are extremely promising, with neither
student performance nor student experience
having been adversely affected.
There is substantial and growing impact
on the amount of savings to the institution.
APUS will continue to convert
courses to OERs, as it is able. The participants
in this project look forward to
continuing to give content to the OER
Commons as part of their corporate
civic duty so that others may benefit.
References
Adams, C. (2017). Successful OER adoption
models: Academic libraries leading
the way. Retrieved from https://
sparcopen.org/news/2017/successfuloer-adoption-models-academic-librar
ies-leading-way
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