Beyond Free: How Open Textbooks Can Improve Learning, Build Community & Empower Faculty

Beyond FreeThe BC Open Textbook Project

Clint LalondeManager, Open EducationCOHERE October 28, 2014

Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.Feel free to use, modify or distribute any or all of this presentation with attribution

Open Educational Resources & Open TextbooksImplications of textbook costs6 benefits beyond freeThe BC Open Textbook ProjectQ & A

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Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of all BC post-secondary institutions under a collaborative service delivery framework

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Open Education & Professional Learning

Student Services & Data Exchange

Collaborative Programs & Shared Services

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1Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of all BC post-secondary institutions under a collaborative service delivery framework

OER Global Logo by Jonathas Mello is licensed under a CC-BY 30 License

Support & promote the development & use of Open Educational ResourcesSupport the development of effective teaching & learning practices

Open Education & Professional Learning

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Online Program Development Fund (OPDF)

2003-2012

$9 million invested153 grants awarded100% participation across system83% partnerships47 credentials developed in whole or part355 courses, 12 workshops, 19 web sites/tools and 396 course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks, manuals, videos)

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What are Open Educational Resources?

“Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them.”

UNESCO

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The 5 R’s of Open

• Make and own copiesRetain• Use in a wide range of

waysReuse• Adapt, modify, and

improveRevise

• Combine two or moreRemix

• Share with othersRedistribute

Adapted (color change) from Open Education: A “Simple” Introduction by David Wiley released under CC-BY license

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Creative Commons logo by Creative Commons used under a CC-BY 3.0 LicenseCC license image from Copyright in Education & Internet in South African Law used under CC-BY 2.5 South Africa license

Beyond Free Benefit #1

Faculty have full legal right to customize & contextualize open textbooks to fit their pedagogical needs

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Choices for students (and for adapters)

Old Leather books, by Wyoming_Jackrabbit used under a CC-BY-NC-SA

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Where do they come from?

Okay, free & why it is important

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Average student debt difficult to pay off, CBC, March 11, 2014Student Debt in Canada, Canadian Federation of Students, Fall 2013

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Textbooks are expensive

Image credit: Beyond Textbooks by Thomas used under CC-BY license

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Students spend $1200/yr on textbooks

3x rate of inflation in 10 years

2nd biggest educational expense after tuition

Source: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market U.S. PIRGCover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

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Why textbook prices keep risingPlanet Money, NPROctober 3, 2014

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Course Textbook BookstoreCHEM 1105 Chemistry: The Central Science (lab manual) $215.00MATH 1501 Basic Technical Mathematics with Calculus $186.50

MINE 1101 Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology $118.95COMM 1135 Writing for Success $45.95COMP 1620 New Perspectives on Computer Concepts $183.95

New Perspectives on Microsoft Excel $137.95MINE 1100 Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials $73.95

MINE 1107 None -PHYS 1147 Custom book & Lab Manual $37SURV 1145 None -

Total $999.25

2 Year Mining Exploration ProgramTerm 1 (of 4)

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Course Textbook Bookstore AmazonCHEM 1105 Chemistry: The Central Science (lab manual) $215.00 $214.20MATH 1501 Basic Technical Mathematics with Calculus $186.50 $140

MINE 1101 Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology $118.95 $155COMM 1135 Writing for Success $45.95 $36.20COMP 1620 New Perspectives on Computer Concepts $183.95 $165.25

New Perspectives on Microsoft Excel $137.95 $151.40MINE 1100 Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials $73.95 $89.95

MINE 1107 None - -PHYS 1147 Custom book & Lab Manual $37 n/aSURV 1145 None - -

Total $999.25 $952

2 Year Mining Exploration ProgramTerm 1 (of 4)

How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014

How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014

What is going on here?

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65% students have not purchased a textbook for a course during their academic

career because of price

Source: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market U.S. PIRGCover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

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Free is more than a good deal

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Textbook Costs vs Student Success

Source: 2012 student survey by Florida Virtual CampusSlide: CC-BY Cable Green, Creative Commons via http://www.project-kaleidoscope.org/

60%+ do not purchase books at some point due to book cost

35% take fewer courses due to book cost

31% choose not to register for a course due to book cost

23% regularly go without textbooks due to book cost

14% have dropped a course due to book cost

10% have withdrawn from a course due to book cost

Students Get Savvier about Textbook Buying, The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 2013

Emma Anderson, 21Political science, U. of California at Berkeley

“Usually when I don’t buy it, it’s because I’ve found that you actually don’t need it for the class.”

Jennifer Bi, 20Economics, U. of California at Berkeley

“My most expensive class was clinical psych, because she writes the textbook herself, and it has a new edition every semester or something ridiculous. So it was like almost $200. And the thing is that you can’t use the previous edition, because she changes it herself because she knows the textbooks sell well. It’s like so manipulative.”

Marie Efira, 63Anthropology, Foothill College

“I had to take very few classes, because each time the price of the book more than doubles the tuition fee. It took me much longer to get my degree.”

Source: http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/usf-student-shows-his-peers-how-to-download-textbooks-online-for-free

Beyond Free Benefit #2

Retain for future use

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iPod DRM by *n3wjack's world in pixels used under CC-BY-SA license

eBook on eBook by DWRL at U Texas used under CC-BY-SA-NC license©

Beyond Free Benefit #3

Day 1 access to resources

“My textbook is……back-ordered

…in the mail

…out of stock

…the wrong edition

…on hold until my student loan arrives

…not needed until I decide I want this course”

How often do students start the term without the resources they need?

Faculty have:Right to customizeThe textbook

Students have:Day 1 access to that customized textbook+

Beyond Free Benefit #4

Improved Learning

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“Many students attending HCC have difficulty with the cost of college. Some students do not purchase books at all; other students use outdated editions or non-assigned books.

In addition, the cost of textbooks may prevent students from taking an optimal course load. A reduced course load means more years in college and reduces the likelihood of completion.

For these reasons, faculty were concerned that the cost of textbooks was interfering with student success.

A faculty committee, with the support of administration, decided to make cost a primary consideration in the textbook adoption process.”

Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

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Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

“A group of six full-time and six adjunct HCC psychology faculty members participated in the adaptation of FWK’s Introduction to Psychology textbook.

The adaptation was necessary in order to lower the reading level to one that the faculty felt was appropriate for HCC students (12th grade) and to incorporate additional learning objectives and key terms that they had identified as being essential to the course.

Additional video links, relevant examples, and cross-cultural information were also added to the text.”

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Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

Spring 2011, Traditional Textbook (n = ~370 students)

Fall 2012, open Textbook (n = ~370 students)

GPA 1.6 2.0

Withdrawl Rate 14% 7.1%

Department Final Exam

67.6% 71.1%

Table 1. Aggregated data, spring 2011 (traditional text) versus fall 2011 free text: multiple campuses and instructors.

Beyond Free Benefit #5

Opportunities for collegial collaboration to create stronger resources

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Sprints

2 Days17 Psych Faculty6 Institutions850 Questions

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Sprints

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Sprints

Beyond Free Benefit #6

Opportunities for Authentic Learning Activities

5.5 million view per month. The most visited chemistry website in the world.

Delmar Larsen now offers extra credit to students who submit entries. He assigns a rating system to new articles based on the author's expertise and experience, with articles moving up as they are edited and vetted.

Sources: ChemWiki takes on costly textbooks UC Davis News, October 2013 UCD Hyperlink Newsletter October 2014

Sources: ChemWiki takes on costly textbooks UC Davis News, October 2013 UCD Hyperlink Newsletter October 2014

The Project

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BC Open Textbook Project

40 free & open textbooks for highest enrolled 1st & 2nd year post-secondary subjects in BC2013 – 20 for skills & training

First province in Canada2013 – AB & SASK MOU

$1 million2013 - $1 million

Visual notes of John Yap announcement, Giulia Forsythe Used under CC-SA license

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Why are we doing this project?

To increase access to higher education by reducing student costs

To give faculty more control over their instructional resources

To improve learning outcomes for students

Annie Lennox campaigns with Oxfam at the AIDS Conference by Oxfam used under CC-BY-NC-ND license

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The Project

Don’t reinvent it by Andrea Hernandez released under CC-BY-NC-SA and based on Wheel by Pauline Mak released under CC-BY license

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Faculty Reviews

291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

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Reviews > Adaptations

My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

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Faculty Reviews

Faculty Reviewers

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Publish Many

Write Once

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Outreach

Thank You

open.bccampus.ca@clintlalonde @bccampushttp://www.slideshare.net/bccampus