Four universities have joined a pilot programme led by Jisc and Sylla to explore how open educational resources (OER) can support more inclusive, affordable and personalised learning.
Building on Coventry University’s success in replacing costly textbooks with open alternatives, the ten-week pilot is testing Sylla’s impact across a broader range of institutions.
Sylla is a tech company helping libraries and academics discover and use OER and open access (OA) content. Using AI, Sylla maps open materials at a granular level to textbooks, reading lists, modules, learning outcomes and entire curricula – making it easier to create flexible learning experiences without the high costs of traditional resources.
“This pilot is about uncovering relevant OER,” says Joe Pettican, licensing portfolio specialist at Jisc. “We’re helping universities and colleges unlock the potential of OER to support more sustainable and inclusive learning.”
Participating universities are testing Sylla’s platform to find and integrate OER into their courses while providing useful feedback to Sylla to help refine the discovery tool, for real-world academic use.
University of Hertfordshire: promising results amid practical challenges
While Coventry University’s latest results have grabbed the headlines (more than £250,000 in textbook savings for 245 modules), the financial impact is only part of the story.
At the University of Hertfordshire, the focus was on supporting emerging approaches for the use of OER while maintaining quality. Graham Davies, their head of academic resources explains:
“Sustainability and value for money are important – but our priority is maintaining quality. We work in partnership with academic staff and students to ensure our resources continue to support effective teaching and learning.”
The Herts team reviewed their top 150 e-textbooks with Sylla, creating a focused shortlist of OERs for academic review.
Graham is cautiously optimistic:
“Sylla is a smart, efficient way to discover quality open resources and shows real promise – especially in high-enrolment modules like business studies. Academic feedback has been positive with lecturers saying the resources aligned well – although in some cases we would recommend them as complementary rather than replacement texts.”
There were challenges too.
“Triaging suggestions took time and engaging academic staff across the summer period wasn’t ideal,” Graham explains. “Where core texts are shared across modules, coordination will be important to support future adoption of OER. For now, only library staff have used Sylla. We see value in sharing access to Sylla with our academics to realise its full potential.”
In the meantime, the process for selecting and adopting new OER at University of Hertfordshire needs to be streamlined.
“Replacing full textbooks with multiple OER may be ideal, but while it may take more time to integrate multiple resources, the university’s concept of a guided learner journey, highlighting key resources using structured reading lists, can facilitate this approach.”
Edge Hill University: navigating staffing challenges to achieve open access ambitions
Edge Hill joined the Sylla pilot after experiencing budget reductions, but cost saving wasn’t the only driver.
“Sylla aligns with our open access policy and lets academics create bespoke resources,” says Ruth Smalley, Edge Hill University’s subscriptions and licensing manager. “Academics could mix chapters – or write their own – with real potential for cross-university collaboration.”
However, the timing at the end of the summer term and pressures on academic engagement staff time, paused the rollout in some faculties and scaled it back in others – highlighting the need for stable support teams to implement innovation effectively.
Sylla’s view: from discovery to co-creation
Sylla’s co-founder and director of education, Tom Mosterd, notes that adopting OER depends on each university’s context.
“For universities already using e-textbooks, shifting to OER is fairly smooth. But where academics choose or have authored commercial texts, the shift is harder – especially without clear policies or budget incentives. It’s as much a cultural shift as a practical one.”
To accelerate adoption, Sylla is launching a list of 300 peer-reviewed OER digital textbooks that UK universities have already chosen to replace costly commercial alternatives.
“It saves time for academics and libraries,” says Sam Eerdmans, Sylla’s co-founder and director of business. “It shows exactly how others have replaced commercial texts with OER.”
Collaboration lies at the heart of Sylla’s vision: not just in discovering OER but helping to co-create it. While subjects like business have found suitable OER, coverage is uneven across other disciplines.
“UK-specific OER content, like contract law, is still missing,” says Sam. “Closing these gaps is our next priority.”
In September, Sylla soft-launched ‘Sylla Grow’ – a new initiative tackling the UKs most expensive and commonly assigned textbooks. The goal: to make open alternatives available to libraries and students. Grow brings universities together to co-create and adapt OER, helping institutions build the resources they need most.
Sylla’s long-term vision is to support a shift away from, static costly textbooks towards a more flexible approach to teaching. By integrating open resources into course design, reading lists and other learning platforms, Sylla enables more engaging, accessible and affordable learning.
Sylla’s potential: aligning with Jisc’s open access and digital transformation vision
Jisc is discussing a potential sector-wide agreement with Sylla, pending pilot outcomes and platform improvements.
“The pilot has shown both Sylla’s potential and areas for growth,” Joe Pettican concludes. “We’re pleased to welcome two more universities and two FE colleges to the pilot. Sylla supports Jisc’s open access (OA) goals and aligns with national priorities around research efficiency and lifelong learning, – all while offering potential cost savings for institutions. With positive feedback and usability improvements, a formal agreement is in discussion alongside plans to explore its use in further education.”
The Jisc Sylla pilot aligns with the library’s perspective on Jisc’s digital transformation framework for higher education. Caren Milloy, director of licensing at Jisc explains:
“The Jisc library lens guide highlights the strategic role libraries play in digital transformation, particularly in curating and enabling access to digital learning resources. This aligns directly with the pilot’s aim to explore how platforms like Sylla can surface open educational resources, such as free or low-cost textbooks, to support equitable access. By leveraging library expertise in digital collections and metadata, platforms like Sylla can enhance discoverability and the integration of OERs into teaching and learning.”
OER are just one part of the wider open access landscape. Tools like Sylla show promise, but Jonathan Hofgartner, head of learning, teaching and assessment licensing at Jisc, notes:
“OER adoption still faces major cultural and technological barriers. Scalable solutions like Sylla can help ease the burden on institutions but gaps in UK-specific content and limited engagement with teaching staff and stakeholders remain key challenges. Closing these gaps is essential to improving uptake and unlocking the full potential of open resources.”
To find out more about the Sylla pilot and sourcing OER, visit our webpage.