Why OER Is Gaining Ground—and What’s Still Holding It Back
🎙️ Podcast Episode 2: Adopting Open Educational Resources
In our latest LiveCarta podcast episode, we dive into one of the most important shifts in higher education today: the adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) and faculty-authored content. As educators continue to navigate rising textbook costs, evolving student expectations, and the growing demand for flexibility in course design, it’s clear—the traditional model of academic publishing needs an upgrade.
“It’s not about replacing traditional textbooks for the sake of it. It’s about giving instructors the freedom and ownership over their course content.”
This episode explores how professors and universities are rethinking content creation by tapping into the power of digital platforms and open resources. If you’re an instructor, department head, or education innovator looking for smarter ways to customize and deliver content—this conversation is for you.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why students are pushing back against high textbook prices
“Students have been demanding and looking for alternative ways of acquiring educational material.”
- How educators are creating and sharing content tailored to their students' needs
Many instructors are moving toward flexible, digital-first content that can be updated quickly—and offered at lower cost or even free.
- What makes OER adoption viable today
With partners like OpenStax, LiveCarta offers high-quality, peer-reviewed resources ready for adoption, remixing, and redistribution.
- The power of modular content design
“You're not starting from scratch. You can take existing OER material, reorganize it, combine it with your own lectures or research, and even integrate proprietary resources if needed.”
Making OER Practical — Not Just Possible
At LiveCarta, we believe the future of course content is modular, customizable, and instructor-driven. Our platform is built to support this new paradigm with tools that allow educators to:
- Discover trusted OER resources (including full OpenStax catalog)
- Customize content by mixing chapters, inserting original material, or embedding multimedia
- Collaborate with colleagues or co-author entire collections
- Instantly publish and share digital-first textbooks or course packs
“Platforms like LiveCarta help make that future not just possible, but practical.”
Whether you're building from scratch or remixing existing materials, LiveCarta puts control back in the hands of educators.
A Hybrid Future
The most forward-thinking institutions aren’t asking “Should we replace textbooks with OER?” but rather “How do we build smarter, more flexible content ecosystems?”
“I think the future is going to be a hybrid ecosystem—a blend of OER, faculty-authored content, curated external sources, and smart tools to bring it all together.”
LiveCarta enables this hybrid approach by giving educators tools to own the content creation process—while maintaining academic rigor and instructional coherence.
🎧 Ready to hear more?
Click below to listen to Episode 2 of the LiveCarta Podcast: “Adopting Open Educational Resources” and hear how educators are taking back control of their course materials.
Try it Yourself
Sign up for a free LiveCarta account today. Explore the OpenStax collection, experiment with our authoring tools, and see how easy it is to bring your curriculum into the digital age—your way.