Educational Technology News

Cengage, an education and technology company, has launched OpenNow, a suite of digital products for general education courses that incorporate open educational resources (OER). OpenNow is designed to help higher education institutions and instructors easily access and use OER by providing curriculum-aligned content on an intuitive, outcomes-based platform. Starting at $25 per student per course, OpenNow offers affordable, high-quality educational materials. The platform engages students with assessments and analytics, ensuring that the content is curated, licensed, and aligned with proven course objectives. OpenNow's flexible platform allows instructors to use the content as it is or customize it with the help of Cengage's instructional design team. All content, including narratives and assessments, is openly licensed under CC-BY, allowing for adaptation and reuse. OpenNow includes materials from OpenStax and new content created by Cengage, with all Cengage content in the platform becoming open for modification. The platform is ADA-compliant and designed to be universally accessible. Currently available courses include Introduction to Psychology, American Government, and Introduction to Sociology, with more courses such as College Algebra and General Chemistry coming soon. CEO Michael Hansen emphasized that OpenNow aims to provide strong educational value and improve student engagement and outcomes by offering affordable and early access to course materials.