Q. What is OER or ZTC?

OER stands for Open Educational Resources, and refers to teaching and learning materials that have been openly licensed or are in the public domain, making them free to distribute, use, and sometimes to adapt (depending on license), or that are for some other reason in the public domain.

ZTC stands for Zero Textbook Cost, and is used to refer to materials that are free to use as an alternative to traditional textbooks. There are basically two categories of ZTC materials: those that are openly licensed or in the public domain (as OERs) and those that are free to use, but not openly licensed by their copyright holders.

Many Hostos instructors, working with library faculty, have adopted, adapted, or curated collections of OER/ZTC materials as alternatives to expensive textbooks.

If you have any questions about the OER/ZTC program at Hostos, see our online guide or contact our OER Librarian, Kate Lyons, at clyons@hostos.cuny.edu.