Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

VIVA is pleased to announce that the consortium has been awarded a $248,235 an IMLS National Leadership Implementation Grant to continue development of COALA: An OER Homework Solution. This grant will build upon the successful conclusion of a previously awarded IMLS planning grant to plan and prototype an open-source, LMS-integrated, discipline agnostic, replicable homework solution.  

Students shouldn’t have to pay to do their homework. Higher education is now well aware of the significant impacts of course material costs on students' lives nationwide. Notably, in the 2021 Virginia Course Materials Survey, the 2022 Florida Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey, and the most recent 2023 Pennsylvania Course Materials Survey, approximately one in three respondents reported earning a poor grade because of the cost of required course materials.  The steep costs of course materials are further magnified by the integration of homework platforms into the required curriculum – digital environments where students submit assignments, receive feedback, and engage in coursework activities. Often requiring access codes, these platforms contribute to the financial burden of students, either through additional required course expenses or through inclusive access programs added automatically to students’ fees. Since assignments and grades are often contingent on using these platforms, students cannot alleviate expenses through common coping strategies such as purchasing secondhand copies, using library materials, or sharing textbooks with peers.  Meanwhile, instructors wanting to adopt open and free resources struggle to do so without access to user-friendly open homework resources and platforms, making them reluctant to adopt OER. 

In response to these challenges, VIVA and partners spent two years developing a fully functional prototype of what an open homework solution could look like. With the invaluable contributions of an advisory board including representatives from five statewide consortia, VIVA teamed up with the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM), and Software Services by Scientist.com (SoftServ), to build a homework platform prototype that costs students and instructors nothing to use, and can integrate into existing learning management systems. The result, titled the Collection of Assignments and Learning Assessments (affectionately nicknamed COALA), highlights the possibilities of such a tool for students and instructors.

With this grant, VIVA and partners will be able to continue to further the open homework solution, expanding the number of disciplines housed, refining integration and accessibility, and finalizing a user-friendly and discipline agnostic solution for instructors. With planned completion for the summer of 2026, COALA will be seeded with substantial open content and ready for use in classrooms. Because COALA integrates into existing learning management systems, instructors will not have to learn a new way to assign material to their students, nor will campuses have to vet or install their own instances of a new tool. 

With deep thanks to IMLS, the COALA Advisory Board, and our grant partners, we look forward to sharing updates about this project as it moves forward. For more information contact PIs Dr. Stephanie Westcott (swestcot@gmu.edu) or Genya O’Gara (gogara@gmu.edu).

Advisory Board

Dr. Anna Bendo, OhioLINK

Emily Frank, The Lousiana Library Network

Jeff Gallant, Affordable Learning Georgia Library Services, GALILEO

Amy Hofer, Open Oregon

Nakita Afaha, Affordable Learning Georgia Library Services, GALILEO

Lisa Becksford, Virginia Tech

Dr. Juhong Christie Liu, James Madison University

Dr. Celeste Tường Vy Sharpe, Normandale Community College

Andrea Reed, Brightpoint Community College

Hillary Miller, Virginia Commonwealth University

Jill Peterson, Project Manager, Notch8

Dr. Nathan Sleeter, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Genya O'Gara, VIVA

Dr. Stephanie Westcott,VIVA