Haverhill, MA (September 21, 2026) — This summer, more than 30 Northern Essex Community College faculty and staff members embarked on innovative projects to address student AI Literacy. They’re creating Open Educational Resources (OER), which are free, accessible, openly licensed teaching, learning, and research materials. Anyone can use, share, and adapt OER.
“For years, faculty have had great ideas for course materials but lacked the time and tools to bring them to life – AI is changing that. When you pair AI-powered content creation with the openness of OER, faculty become authors, designers, and innovators, and students get resources that are free, current, and designed specifically for them,” said Sue Tashjian, NECC’s Academic Innovations Programs Manager and Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education OER Advisory Council. Tashjian oversees OER projects at the college.
An image created for the new OER for the Dental Materials and Procedures course
Dental Assisting Program Coordinator Davann Chhem is one of the faculty members who turned existing course materials into a new, interactive resource for students. She organized her Dental Materials and Procedures course into 15 modules, which include readings, terminology, learning activities, knowledge checks, and quizzes. Each module also includes an AI-generated introduction video that gives students an overview of what they will learn, highlights key topics, and explains the activities and assignments they will complete.
“I believe OER is important because it can remove some of the financial barriers students face while also giving faculty the opportunity to create materials that are specific to their courses and their students,” said Chhem. “For me, this project was also an opportunity to incorporate career readiness, technology, and responsible AI use so that my students are better prepared for both their education and their future careers.”
An image created for the new OER for the Dental Materials and Procedures course
NECC Associate Professor Devan Walton helped Chhem and other faculty members design applications for their projects. This additional technology component helps to further the accessibility and functionality of the materials.
“Davann’s app lets students do more than read about dental materials. They can try different materials and see how they respond to pressure or curing light. Across the CA-ROTEL apps, we’re creating more opportunities for students to learn by doing, without adding to their costs. Making these resources open also means other educators can use them, adapt them, and share improvements,” Walton said.
This work is supported by a $1.98 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop open-source textbooks for high-enrollment general education courses that are applicable across public college systems in Massachusetts. Framingham State is the lead recipient and has partnered with UMass-Lowell and NECC on the initiative, which is called the Career and AI Readiness while Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens (CA-ROTEL) project. The project is now in its second year.
This round includes the widest range of disciplines yet, including Business Law, Introduction to Psychology, Tax Accounting, Practical Logic, Dental Material & Procedures, Interpersonal Communication, Introduction to Respiratory Disease, English Composition 1 and 2, and World Religions.
“This work is about more than the content itself. AI literacy is fast becoming an essential skill that students need to navigate higher education and the workforce, and when we support faculty in integrating it thoughtfully into their courses, we’re not just keeping up with the times; we’re making sure our students aren’t left behind,” noted Tashjian.
This initiative builds on a previous project– supported by a separate $1.3 million grant from the DOE – which produced nearly 30 OER textbooks being used at the partner colleges and beyond. NECC’s first open textbook, The Whole Child: Development in the Early Years, is in use at more than a dozen colleges and universities, including institutions in Canada and Portugal.
Tashjian estimates the first round of CA ROTEL resulted in $50,000 in savings for students. Over the last 11 years, the use of free and low-cost course materials has saved Northern Essex students $10 million.
NECC currently offers 80 courses that use OER. Students can search specifically for these classes in the course search tool and select the Free/Low-Cost Books icon. For more information about free and low-cost textbooks or OER, please contact Sue Tashjian at 978-556-3686 or stashjian@necc.mass.edu.
