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Textbooks can cost more than tuition,AI‑powered OER wipes that cost out entirely. In this conversation, Dr. Sarah Harmon, Adjunct Professor of Spanish and Linguistics, OER / ZTC Coordinator at Cañada College, and Chair of the SMCCCD Academic Senate Standing Committee on Teaching and Learning (DTLC), lays out the five‑spoke ZTC Wheelthat drives course material costs to $0 without sacrificing rigor. She then shows how LibreTexts’ machine translation delivers 90 %‑accurate Spanish and French editions in minutes and shares simple Creative Commons tips that keep lawyers happy while inviting global remix. Along the way, Harmon connects Universal Design for Learning with higher retention and offers open‑pedagogy ideas that turn students into co‑authors.
Profile: Dr. Sarah Harmon
Dr. Sarah Harmon has been teaching Spanish and Linguistics at the collegiate level for over 25 years, mostly in the California Community College system. Her research pursuits focus on historical Romance linguistics, grammatical gender, theories of language change, technology in the foreign language classroom, and the impact of Open Educational Resource (OER) on students. She has been teaching distance education modalities for over 15 years and specializes in creating highly communicative and inclusive environments online. She’s part of the Tarea Libre/Entrada Libre OER writing team that has created first- and second-year collegiate Spanish OER textbooks and homework ancillaries through the LibreTexts platforms.