OpenStax offers freely available, open educational materials (OER): Textbooks, lectures, simulations and problem sets. Based at Rice Univeristy, the initiative currently has more than 60 titles focused on introductory college courses. The offered materials are peer-reviewed and edited. OpenStax books are similar in content and scope to their traditional counterparts to help instructors and institutions transition to OER. OpenStax publications can be updated regularly and often have an associated website where educators can provide additional materials.
Growing awareness for OER
According to Bay View Analytics' surveys, across different disciplines about half of all US-based higher-education instructors are aware of OER. The benefits for instructors are the ability to adapt materials, shorten and assign tasks more freely.
OER are usually published under a Creative Commons license, which allows the legal use, adaptation, translation, and redistribution of the materials. Thus, they help make higher education more inclusive and accessible.
Educators who have researched the effectiveness of OER see a correlation in the free availability of the materials and academic success. If the course catalog indicates that a free textbook is available, both enrollment and graduation rates increase.
You can read the original article here: https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/76/7/18/2899794/Free-textbooks-and-other-open-educational