{"id":22983,"date":"2024-11-12T15:07:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T20:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2024\/11\/12\/neccs-first-open-textbook-used-by-international-institutions\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:05:37","slug":"neccs-first-open-textbook-used-by-international-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/11\/12\/neccs-first-open-textbook-used-by-international-institutions\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC&#8217;s First Open Textbook Used by International Institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Haverhill, MA (November 4, 2024) \u2013 Northern Essex Community College is celebrating the results of a three-year, Federal grant that allowed faculty to develop free, openly licensed course materials, known as OER. NECC faculty developed five digital textbooks through the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/rotelproject.org\/\">Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens<\/a>\u201d project (ROTEL). Those textbooks include <em>The Whole Child: Development in the Early Years<\/em>, the first open textbook on child growth and development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Doris [Buckley] and I started teaching years ago, we had this textbook that we really liked and it cost $75. Then it was $100 and eventually $150,\u201d recalled NECC Professor Deirdre Budzyna during a book launch event and celebration last week. \u201cIt was just not equitable. Students could afford to take our class, but not buy the textbook. So, we started talking about writing our own textbook.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the help of the ROTEL grant and NECC\u2019s coordinator of instructional technology Sue Tashjian, who is a pioneer in statewide OER initiatives, Budzyna and Buckley developed a new, digital textbook for the Child Growth and Development class. It\u2019s the first course students need to obtain their teacher\u2019s license, and NECC offers four or five sections of the class each year. With as many as 32 students in each class, replacing the $150 commercial textbook with this free version saves NECC students up to $24,000 a year.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Whole Child: Development in the Early Years<\/em> is now being translated into Spanish and eventually a side-by-side version with English and Spanish will be available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very important at Northern Essex, as the first <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/about\/serving-the-hispanic-community\/\">Hispanic Serving Institution<\/a> in New England, to offer the course and Spanish and to also have the materials that will serve our Spanish-speaking students,\u201d said Professor Sharline Del Rosario, who provided the translations.<\/p>\n<p>More than a dozen colleges and universities are now using the book, including intuitions in Canada and Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order for grassroots ideas like this to take hold, it works best when it\u2019s obvious how it helps students,\u201d said NECC President Lane Glenn. \u201cCongratulations to everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Three more NECC-developed textbooks are now available: <em>Culturally Responsive Computing: An Introduction into Computer Science, Security, and Technology<\/em> by Devan Walton; <em>Literary Studies for a Sustainable Future<\/em> by Lisette Espinoza, and <em>Human Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory Manual: Understanding How Structure Determines Function<\/em> by Maria Carles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy students are trying to get ahead. Sometimes they tell me they have to choose between paying rent or buying books. So, for me, it was a no-brainer. I looked at the most expensive book for the classes I teach and decided to make it free,\u201d said Carles of her process in developing OER.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ROTEL grant started three years ago, and it ends in December,\u201d remarked Bob Awkward, Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness for the MA Department of Higher Education. \u201cIn that time, we have produced nearly 30 textbooks across the state. These books are beautiful, they\u2019re accessible, they\u2019re culturally inclusive, they\u2019re really very well done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the continued work of Sue Tashjian, NECC was just named as a partner in a new <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/10\/23\/new-grant-for-creation-of-free-class-materials-with-a-focus-on-career-readiness-and-ai\/\">$1.98 million grant<\/a> from the U.S. Department of Education to develop free class materials with a focus on career readiness and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>NECC currently offers 90 courses that use OER. Students can search specifically for these classes in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cst.necc.mass.edu\/\">course search tool<\/a> and select the Free\/Low-Cost Books icon at the top of the page. For more information about free and low-cost textbooks or OER, please contact Tashjian at 978-556-3686 or <a href=\"mailto:stashjian@necc.mass.edu\">stashjian@necc.mass.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Haverhill, MA (November 4, 2024) \u2013 Northern Essex Community College is celebrating the results of a three-year, Federal grant that allowed faculty to develop free, openly licensed course materials, known [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":25402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15,16,17,20,13],"tags":[339,472,478],"class_list":["post-22983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-press-releases","category-programs","category-students","category-faculty-and-staff","tag-international","tag-oer","tag-open-educational-resources-oer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - 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