Open courseware and other open educational resources are beginning to  draw the attention of higher education policymakers and other leaders.  Why? Simply put, these web-based educational tools hold the promise of  both reducing the cost of higher education and helping learners to  complete their degrees by providing access to top quality course  materials and instruction.
By radically reducing the costs of course content, delivery of  instruction, textbooks, and related materials these open resources can  make college more affordable. Further, by enabling  “learning-from-anywhere” for students who have work and family  obligations, the same technologies provide expanded access to higher  education for millions of nontraditional learners.
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