Image of a diverse group of workers in a factory. Skills Commons Affordable Learning Solutions.

Welcome to SkillsCommons Affordable Learning Solutions

SkillsCommons Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) Introduction

Gerry Hanley, Executive Director of SkillsCommons and MERLOT, explains how the cost of course materials can often exceed the cost of tuition for those courses. SkillsCommons Affordable Learning Solutions websites can help faculty and students find free e-textbooks and online course materials that can be adopted and revised to enable institutions to make education more affordable for their students.

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FIND

Looking for FREE and OPEN online materials for your courses?


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SHOWCASES

Looking for courses in academic disciplines that have recommended FREE and OPEN eTextbooks selected for them?

Looking for FREE and OPEN courseware and curriculum for career and technical education (CTE) that are courses in credential and certificate programs?

Looking for FREE, LOW-COST, and OPEN virtual labs in STEM disciplines that can engage and develop your students critical thinking skills?

Looking to LEARN how your colleagues are using FREE and OPEN eTextbooks?

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ACCESSIBILITY

Looking for guidelines, tools, and methodologies for evaluating accessibility of the wide range of materials produced by the TAACCCT program?

Looking for accessibility evaluation methods for the FREE and Open etextbooks in the academic discipline collection? Explore the resources and tools for accessibility evaluation applied for these resources.

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SUPPORT SERVICES

Looking for a "one-stop-shop" for finding all the different FREE and OPEN educational resources?

Looking for ways to make the most of using MERLOT to find FREE and OPEN educational resources?

Looking for ways to reuse and revise OER and open courseware?

Looking for technology partners who can help you reuse, revise, and customize OER?

Looking for more information about Creative Commons licensing in TAACCCT program?

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CONNECT WITH SKILLSCOMMONS COMMUNITY

Looking for leadership communities focused on innovations in workforce development and scaling success?

Looking to stay in touch with the SkillsCommons Community through social media?

Looking to meet face-to-face with the SkillsCommons Community at conferences?

Looking to connect with institutions implementing their own Affordable Learning Solutions program?

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ABOUT SKILLSCOMMONS AND AFFORDABLE LEARNING SOLUTIONS

Learn the WHY, WHEN, and HOW about SkillsCommons.

Learn about SkillsCommons-MERLOT Affordable Learning Solutions Initiative and how we can help your institution save your students millions of dollars in course materials.

Looking for campus strategies to adopt for your own AFFORDABLE LEARNING SOLUTIONS initiative?  Download the MERLOT-SkillsCommons campus planning template for AL$.

ADD Free eTextbooks You're Using or Created Into MERLOT

Are you using free eTextbooks in your teaching or your learning? Have you created free eTextbooks? We invite you to catalog these resources in MERLOT. Your colleagues and students around the world will thank you!

IT'S EASY!

First: Become a member of MERLOT (It will take about 2 minutes and it’s FREE).

Second: Fill out the online form to Contribute a Material. (It will take about 4 minutes the first time and step-by-step instructions for contributing materials (PDF) to MERLOT are available).

 

Enter key words below to search the SkillsCommons library for Free Workforce Development OER

 

Enter key words below to search the MERLOT library for Free eTextbooks

Advanced Search MERLOT Materials

 

Enter the ISBN of a book below to find related FREE eTextbooks.