See ZTC data at a glance
In April 2016, the LAVC Academic Senate passed a resolution to reduce the cost of textbooks and supplies for students, and to increase access to high-quality open educational resources (OERs). This resolution enabled LAVC to apply for and receive a $50,000 grant under Assembly Bill 798 (AB 798).
Since AB-798 funds were awarded, LAVC's OER initiative -- OER @LAVC -- has grown exponentially, offering workshops, stipends, grant opportunities, and other support for faculty OER adoption. In the intervening years, LAVC has received additional funding to encourage OER adoptions, including Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) grants and ongoing support from the ASCCC OERI Initiative.
If you haven’t already, please consider adopting open educational resources as an alternative to costly, traditional textbooks. Explore this guide to learn more about OER and discover resources. If you have additional questions, want to get involved, or need support, contact Meghan Cason.
See LAVC's growing list of ZTC course sections since 2016.
NEWS FLASH: Since 2011, College of the Canyons has seen a nearly 98 percent increase in the number of students graduating. Chancellor Diane Van Hook cites increased textbook affordability through OER adoption as a major contributing factor. Read the story here.
LAVC faculty and students discuss the benefits of Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) classes.
NEWS FLASH: An Overlooked Benefit of OER: Showing Students We Care
Funded by grants from the California Community College's Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), LAVC's ZTC Award Program seeks to establish several new ZTC degree pathways by 2027. Further, our program prioritizes strengthening our General Education ZTC pathway, which is critical to the sustainability of any ZTC degree.
We invite faculty across disciplines to apply for our ZTC Award Program. Faculty will be compensated for the professional development and curriculum development required to adopt, adapt, create, remix, and/or revise Open Educational Resources (OER) to replace their current texts.
Faculty may be compensated for attending ASCCC OERI Webinars and events. Please forward your registration to casonmg@lavc.edu. Here are the latest opportunities from the ASCCC OERI:
Wednesday, November 5, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Open Educational Resources (OER), and Art History: A Conversation
What does the recent explosion in AI availability and usage mean for Art History? How does it impact teaching and assessments—especially for faculty using OER and/or teaching online? What policies have you established in your own courses? What assignments have you updated or implemented to either embrace or circumvent AI tools? Join fellow discipline faculty to brainstorm, share ideas, and strategize!
Register for AI, OER, and Art History: A Conversation
Open Educational Resources (OER) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Office Hours
Drop in to chat and ask questions about OER and AI. Topics can include attribution and citation questions, ethical considerations, hypothetical and practical scenarios, or discipline specific issues - nothing is too small or too large! Join colleagues to ask questions, get feedback, or brainstorm ways that AI can be a helpful tool in your OER work. These office hours will be held from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm on every Thursday of November except for November 27th.
Register for the November 6, 13, and 20 OER and AI Office Hours
Wednesday, November 12, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Open Educational Resources (OER) and Distance Education (DE) Office Hour
Drop in to chat, share ideas, and ask questions about the intersections of OER and DE. If you are creating, teaching, and/or supporting DE courses which use OER, let's talk about platforms, pedagogies, policies, and practices, whether they're problematic, promising, or a little of both!
Register for OER and DE Office Hour
Wednesday, November 12, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Beyond the Discussion Board: Reimagining Online Conversations with Discuss-It
Tired of text-only discussions that feel like checkboxes instead of conversations? Discover Discuss-It, an OER tool in LibreTexts’ ADAPT, that transforms discussions into interactive, multimedia exchanges through audio, video, and text. Learn how integrating voice and video responses can boost engagement, build community, and bring human presence back to your courses regardless of your discipline.
Register for Beyond the Discussion Board: Reimagining Online Conversations with Discuss-It
Friday, November 14, 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Teaching with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Practical Tools for Biology Instructors
As AI rapidly expands into education, biology instructors have new opportunities to create engaging, accessible, and cost-free resources for their students. This session introduces practical AI tools that help faculty enhance teaching and learning in biology courses, with a special focus on open educational resources. Participants will explore how AI can generate visuals, customize examples, and develop instructional materials that support complex biological concepts.
Register for Teaching with AI: Practical Tools for Biology Instructors
Wednesday, November 19, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Applying the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Framework to Open Educational Resources (OER): Economics
The IDEA Framework was created to inform the development of new OER and to review and improve existing OER. What does an IDEA review mean for an economics text? What does an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and anti-racist economics OER look like? Join us to consider the applicability of the IDEA Framework in a discipline-specific context to learn how to use and apply it to any OER.
Register for the Applying the IDEA Framework to OER: Economics
Monday, November 3, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Streamlining Discovery of Open Educational Resources (OER) for Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition Courses
Join this interactive conversation with faculty who teach kinesiology, health, and nutrition courses to explore practical ways to organize and access OER. We’ll discuss strategies for categorizing and labeling materials, cross-listing resources, and updates on accessible videos, lab content, and gaps in essential course materials. Bring your questions and ideas to help build a system that makes finding and sharing resources easier for everyone.
Register for Streamlining Discovery of OER for Kinesiology, Health, and Nutrition Courses
Monday, November 3, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Meeting the Needs of Open Educational Resource (OER) Adopters in Economics
This conversation aims to further understand and address the specific needs and concerns of faculty currently teaching economics courses using OER. This may involve developing, providing, or sharing materials as well as introducing innovative pedagogies or assignment design that aligns with OER. It might also address concerns about moving courses from OER to zero-textbook-cost.
Register for Meeting the Needs of OER Adopters in Economics
Tuesday, November 4, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Open, Relevant, and Ready: Business Open Educational Resources (OER) for the Future
In this conversation, faculty will discuss innovative strategies to keep OER for business courses current, accessible, and impactful to prepare students for success in today’s dynamic economy.
Register for Open, Relevant, and Ready: Business OER for the Future
Wednesday, November 5, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
English as a Second Language (ESL) and Open Educational Resources (OER) Today.
Faculty in both credit and noncredit programs are invited to join this conversation about OER for ESL. What OER have you adopted? What OER would you like to write? What do you think the discipline needs? Please join us to learn about OER, ask questions, and share your experiences to build our ESL OER community.
Register for ESL and OER Today.
Thursday, November 6, 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Fall 2025 Roundup of Open Educational Resources (OER)/Zero-Textbook-Cost (ZTC) Developments for Early Childhood Education (ECE)
The field of ECE is rapidly expanding with new OER and ZTC materials. This webinar will provide an overview of resources developed over the last year and highlight upcoming developments. Join is to explore new OER, revised OER, and new ancillaries for the discipline.
Register for Fall 2025 Roundup of OER/ZTC Developments
Monday, November 10, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Music Theory and Musicianship Open Educational Resources (OER): An Overview
In this webinar, we will explore the available OER for music fundamentals, music theory, and musicianship courses. Join us to discuss what OER exist and which ones should be included in the developing the music OER collection on the OERI website.
Register for Music Theory and Musicianship OER: An Overview
Wednesday, November 12, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Geography Study Afield: Sharing Our Favorite Field Study Locations
We have all seen the excitement that our students experience when they can see geography in the field as the concepts we teach come alive. What if faculty openly licensed information about their favorite field study locations and resources for teaching about them? In this presentation, we will discuss creating open educational resources for sharing field study resources. Come and learn and be prepared to share!
Register for Geography Study Afield: Sharing Our Favorite Field Study Locations
Tuesday, November 18, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Open Educational Resources (OER) and Geology: Expansion to all Earth Sciences
Join us to explore the development of a set of earth science "sub-discipline" OER. We will discuss using the drop-down menu selections on the geology site to include current geology resources as well as oceanography/marine sciences, meteorology/atmospheric sciences, and planetary/earth system sciences OER.
Register for OER and Geology: Expansion to all Earth Sciences
Wednesday, November 19, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Envisioning Open Educational Resources (OER) throughout the Associate in Arts -Transfer (AA-T) Elementary Teacher Education: Integrated Programs
Calling all education faculty! What do we want to see on our OERI discipline page? Truth: We teach one, maybe two, courses in the entire program of study. Let's identify which courses in the AA-T Elementary Teacher Education: Integrated Programs degree that we believe should be on our discipline page. Please add your voice to this important conversation and join us for a lively session that will shape the future for our students.
Register for Envisioning OER throughout the AA-T Elementary Teacher Education: Integrated Programs
Friday, November 21, 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Philosophy Open Educational Resources (OER) for Logic, Critical Thinking, and Writing
The introduction of Cal-GETC as the only general education pattern for transfer students has impacted logic courses. Previously at least two different courses would be offered: one covering introduction to logic (including symbolic logic) and one covering critical thinking through writing. One approach to these changes has been to offer a single course that meets the needs of all students, including philosophy majors. This webinar will cover OER that can be helpful in crafting an appropriate set of readings for such a course.
Register for Philosophy OER for Logic, Critical Thinking, and Writing
