BNC OER+

[Julia Stone]

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience with "BNC OER+"? Our Barnes & Noble Bookstore is currently asking the Library if we know of any courses that would be a good fit for this program, such as courses that use OER content that also could benefit from an additional "courseware" component.

I mentioned in a meeting with our Bookstore that the name "OER+" is misleading because the courseware that faculty could customize in BNC's platform as a supplement to OER is not openly licensed; students also pay to use it and and it has closed access within the BNC proprietary system. Additionally, students lose access to this supplementary courseware after the course ends, while they maintain access to the OER.

The Bookstore asked for suggestions on what the "BNC OER+" name could be updated to so the PSU campus could better distinguish that this is different from OER in that it includes both OER material and a low-cost courseware component. My initial thought was something very transparent like: "BNC's Low-Cost Courseware for OER Program" or "BNC OER+ Low-Cost Courseware."

I'd be interested in connecting with anyone else who has navigated these discussions surrounding BNC OER+. I would rather support faculty in creating open courseware and activities that are completely free and openly licensed and shared (H5P, etc.), but I do want to maintain a positive working relationship with our bookstore. 

Thanks in advance for any advice folks have!

Best,

Julia

[Leigh Hancock]

Hi Julie,

I'm appalled, but not surprised, that a for-profit company would try to co-opt the phrase OER..  I guess the + stands for "all the profit we're going to make off students?"

I totally understand wanting to maintain good working relationships with the bookstore, but only if the first priority for all parties is our students, especially those most vulnerable to escalating text costs.  My suspicion is that the "low cost software" will remain low-cost only until instructors integrate it into their curriculum and come to depend on it. Then watch those prices rise.

Sorry for my rant; this touched a nerve!   

Leigh Hancock

Columbia Gorge Community College

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[Robert Kovacich]

Wow, straight open theft. I'm sure the end user agreement states that any content uploaded to their site is now owned by them. 

Rob

Robert J Kovacich MS
Columbia Gorge Community College
Chemistry Faculty
Distance Learning Administrator (Moodle)

Science Department Chair

Union President

https://www.cgcc.edu/rob-kovacich

https://cgcc.zoom.us/j/8318681406

1730 College Way 

Hood River, OR 97031

400 East Scenic Drive
The Dalles, OR 97058

(541) 506 - 6174
rkov...@cgcc.edu

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[Daniel Rockwell]

Hi Julia,

This further shows us that we need a high quality, robust, and easy to use digital courseware system that is free for people to use.

I wonder how funding to take something that is already free and improve upon it so that it can integrate with LMS’s and is easy to adopt.

Daniel Rockwell, PhD
(he/him/they/them)
Director | WOU Center for Teaching & Learning
Western Oregon University

Land Acknowledgement: Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (https://www.grandronde.org) and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians (https://ctsi.nsn.us).

[Robert Kovacich]

Unless we write something ourselves, the only good option is Moodle being that it's open source and is not controlled by any companies. 

I refuse to allow our college to switch over to canvas because they are controlled by a hedge fund. Even though the state is paying for canvas, that's not a guarantee in the future. 

We could run all of this thru Moodle.

Does anyone have Moodle backend experience? I am our Moodle admin, but only front side.

Rob

Robert J Kovacich MS
Columbia Gorge Community College
Chemistry Faculty
Distance Learning Administrator (Moodle)

Science Department Chair

Union President

https://www.cgcc.edu/rob-kovacich

https://cgcc.zoom.us/j/8318681406

1730 College Way 

Hood River, OR 97031

400 East Scenic Drive
The Dalles, OR 97058

(541) 506 - 6174
rkov...@cgcc.edu

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openoregon/0DF65DB4-A44B-414E-8724-BCC92D648D54%40mail.wou.edu.

[John Schoppert]

Julia, Daniel, Leigh!, and Rob!,

I agree with previous comments that the open-washing by BN is egregious. Don't even call it OER at that point, because it obviously isn't open, parts may be, but not the whole. I wouldn't even call it low-cost because it ultimately won't be for long. As to maintaining good relations, how is BN maintaining good relations with this move? Give an inch, and they'll give you ravens. Remember the push for "inclusive access"? 

Daniel, as to a functional, powerful, integratable platform for a LMS that you're looking for, you might look at LibreText, it has now expanded into LibreVerse with multiple tools. I know it integrates with Canvas, I would guess it can do so in Moodle.    

Cheers to my colleagues at CGCC and Oregon! I would love to explore an inter-state summit with you. We were just talking about that today at a CA OER/ZTC summit.

John Schoppert

Director, Library and Learning Support Services 

MIssion College

Santa Clara, CA

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[Heather Wild]

This RFP went out with the last OpenOregon news digest; it might be an appropriate opportunity to fund a summit focused on this topic:

• The call for proposals is open for grants up to $5000 for regional events in celebration of Creative Commons’ 25th anniversary. Proposals are due May 31. 

H. Wild, PhD

Psychology Department

Portland State University

http://www.pdx.edu

~they/them~

Land Acknowledgement

Portland State University is located in the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon in Multnomah County. We honor the Indigenous people whose traditional and ancestral homelands we stand on, the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Watlala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin Kalapuya, and many other Indigenous nations of the Columbia River. It is important to recognize that we are here because of the sacrifices forced upon them. We honor their legacy, their lives, and their descendants.

Contributions of the Black Diaspora / Labor Acknowledgement

We recognize and acknowledge that the very foundation of the United States of America was built on the unpaid and forced labor of Black people of the African diaspora and Black people indigenous to this land. This foundation has cumulative, generational effects that continue to negatively impact Black communities today who remain uncompensated. The historical and contemporary contributions of the Black diaspora continue to shape American culture and benefit all inhabitants of this land.

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[Angela Wood]

Appreciate all of this information and the discussion!

Angela

On Fri, May 1, 2026 at 11:00 PM John Schoppert <johnsc...@gmail.com> wrote:

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