AFFORDABLE LEARNING LOUISIANA
Rising costs for tuition and textbooks have become a barrier for academic success and retention for many students on a national level. The use of Open Textbooks and Open Educational Resources (OER) by faculty helps to reduce these costs, and adopting these free Educational Resources as alternatives to traditional textbooks is a growing trend in higher education
The Affordable Learning LOUISiana Initiative is a pilot project funded by The Louisiana Board of Regents. Its purpose is to promote affordable learning resources in the state to help reduce students’ cost for required course materials. Using the Louisiana State Common Course Catalog, LOUIS library consortium created and maintain a list of potential open education resources (OERs) that faculty may choose to adopt in their courses. It is the primary source of OER content for this project and content from the OER repositories will be included on an ongoing basis.
Additionally, under the Affordable Learning LOUISiana Initiative, Southern University and A & M College have saved students close to $500,000 in incurring the cost of textbooks.
What are Affordable Educational Resources?
- Affordable Educational Resources=A single or collection of required resources that may be offered at no or low cost to a student at a pre-sales tax cost that does not exceed an amount equal to 4 times the federal minimum wage. (i.e., no more than $29 with a $7.25 federal minimum wage).
- AER textbook must also be DRM-Free, with Unlimited Access (UA).
DRM-free-Computer files without digital rights management (DRM) or restrictions on simultaneous use, printing, or downloading of content after it is sold.
Act 125 and SU Student Impact
Under the Affordable Learning LOUISiana, the library can support Southern University faculty by providing access to DRM-Free AER/OER titles. To search for AER/OER titles, click on the Faculty Portal below.
Click here to search the Faculty Portal for AER/OER titles
Complete the Request or Adopt an eBook form for AER purchases.
Affordable Learning Resources and Program
LOUIS OER Commons -is a repository of open educational resources aligned with the Louisiana Statewide Couse Catalog. This repository also facilitates the creation of new OER by Louisiana educators.
Act 125 Textbooks Adoptions- LOUIS users data required by Act 125 to report on textbook affordability in Louisiana, and to aid postsecondary institutional decision making as it pertains to library collection development in support of affordable learning.
SUBR OER/AER Textbooks -This guide features a growing number of OER/AER Textbooks in use at Southern University.
If you have any questions, or need more information on Affordable Educational Resources contact a librarian at (225)771-2604.