Barton Community College celebrated another milestone in its Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative by certifying its 100th course. The three-credit-hour Computer Concepts and Applications course joined the OER line-up to help make Barton classes more accessible and affordable for students.

The foundational computer course became the second course Business Computer Management Instructor Deanna Heier certified for the College’s initiative. The transition of this course to OER represents a significant step towards additional initiative goals since the course is required to complete an associate degree.

“Many of my students, both online and on-campus, made inadequate attempts to complete the course without the textbook because it is expensive,” said Heier. “Cost saving is great, but a student’s opportunity for success increases with the new course transition.  It is one barrier that could be resolved for both the course and degree with this OER revision.”

The Barton Bookstore has supported the initiative from the beginning in its own unique way. The institutionally owned bookstore differs from many of its peers in that a third party does not own and operate it. Bookstore Manager Cecelia Nicolet said it fully supports the use and expansion of the OER initiative across the institution. 

“It is the policy of the Barton Bookstore to uphold and support Barton’s mission to provide affordable learning opportunities and resources for students,” she said.

Director of Innovation and Compliance Lee Miller said the support of our campus bookstore is one of the reasons Barton has made significant progress with the OER initiative.

“Thank you to all the faculty and staff who helped us reach this new milestone,” she said.