Beyond FreeThe BC Open Textbook Project

Clint Lalonde

Manager, Open EducationBCNet April 28 2015

Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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1. OER & Open Textbooks

2. Textbook costs

3. 6 “beyond free” benefits

4. The BC Open Textbook Project

Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of all BC post-secondary

institutions under a collaborative service delivery framework

• Promote & support the development & use of Open Educational Resources

• System wide initiatives to facilitate the enhancement of a high quality teaching & learning

culture.

Open Education & Professional Learning

Online Program Development Fund (OPDF)

2003-2012

$9 million invested

153 grants awarded

100% participation across system

83% partnerships

47 credentials developed in whole or part

355 courses, 12 workshops, 19 web sites/tools and 396

course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks,

manuals, videos)

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

Cost to copy a 250 page book

Copy by hand $1000

Copy by print on demand (color) $24.50

Copy by print on demand (B&W) $7.60

Copy by computer $0.00084

Cost to distribute a 250 page book

Distribute by mail $5.20

Distribute via internet $0.00072

Adapted from The $5 Textbook, D. Wiley http://www.slideshare.net/opencontent/the-5-texbook CC-BY

What are Open Textbooks?

A textbook licensed under an open

copyright license, and made available to

be freely used by students, teachers and

members of the public.

They are available for free as online and

electronic versions, or as low-cost printed

versions.

Open copyright license

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

Creative Commons logo by Creative Commons used under a CC-BY 3.0 License

CC 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

Nothing is free: Who pays?

Okay, free & why it is important

Average student debt difficult to pay off, CBC, March 11, 2014

Student Debt in Canada, Canadian Federation of Students, Fall 2013

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

Course Textbook Bookstore

CHEM 1105 Chemistry: The Central Science (lab manual) $215.00

MATH 1501 Basic Technical Mathematics with Calculus $186.50

MINE 1101 Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology $118.95

COMM 1135 Writing for Success $45.95

COMP 1620 New Perspectives on Computer Concepts $183.95

New Perspectives on Microsoft Excel $137.95

MINE 1100 Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials $73.95

MINE 1107 None -

PHYS 1147 Custom book & Lab Manual $37

SURV 1145 None -

Total $999.25

2 Year Mining Exploration Program

Term 1 (of 4)

Course Textbook Bookstore Amazon

CHEM 1105 Chemistry: The Central Science (lab manual) $215.00 $214.20

MATH 1501 Basic Technical Mathematics with Calculus $186.50 $140

MINE 1101 Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology $118.95 $155

COMM 1135 Writing for Success $45.95 $36.20

COMP 1620 New Perspectives on Computer Concepts $183.95 $165.25

New Perspectives on Microsoft Excel $137.95 $151.40

MINE 1100 Mineral Exploration and Mining Essentials $73.95 $89.95

MINE 1107 None - -

PHYS 1147 Custom book & Lab Manual $37 n/a

SURV 1145 None - -

Total $999.25 $952

2 Year Mining Exploration Program

Term 1 (of 4)

39%

29%

19%

8%5%

How much students in Canada say they spend on textbooks per term

$200 or less

$200-$400

$400-$600

$600-$800

$800+

Data on Textbook Costs, Higher Education Strategy Association, published February 2015

Data gathered Fall 2012 n=1350

Why Textbooks Cost So Much, The Economist, August 16, 2014

Why textbook prices keep climbing Planet Money, NPR October 3, 2014

Principal/Agent Problem

“The cardinal lesson is that

prices rise unchecked if the

people who order the goods

aren’t paying the prices.”

The $250 Econ 101 Textbook, Craig Richardson, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2015

Drugs and Prescriptions Seth Anderson CC-BY-NC-SA

Cheapest Used Textbooks by Wesley Fryer CC-BY-SA

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?

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. PIRG

Cover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

Free is more than just a good deal

There are pedagogical implications

to high textbook costs

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

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 customize

The textbook

Students have:Day 1 access to that customized textbook

+

Beyond Free Benefit #4

Improved Learning

“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

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.”

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.

The Remix Hypothesis http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3813

“In it’s simplest form, The Remix Hypothesis states that changes in

students outcomes occurring in conjunction with OER adoption

correlate positively with faculty remixing activities. “

Beyond Free Benefit #5

Opportunities for collegial

collaboration to create

stronger resources

Sprints

2 Days17 Psych Faculty6 Institutions850 Questions

New Edition

Sprints

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

open.bccampus.ca

BC Open Textbook Project

40 free & open textbooks for highest

enrolled 1st & 2nd year post-secondary

subjects in BC

2014 – 20 for skills & training

First province in Canada

2014 – AB & SASK MOU

$1 million

2014 - $1 million

Visual notes of John Yap announcement, Giulia Forsythe Used under

CC-SA license

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

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

79

Faculty Reviews ($250)

291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

Reviews > Adaptations

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

Faculty Reviews

Faculty Reviewers

New Creations

Publish Many

Write Once

Choices for students (and for adapters)

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

14

Results

Year Faculty Sections Students Savings

2013 12 18 553 $55,300 - $84,560

2014 42 78 2630 $263,000 - $367,896

2015 (Jan-April)

33 73 2224 $222,400 - $252,285

Total 87 169 5407 $540,700 - $713,921

Outreach

Thank Youopen.bccampus.ca

@clintlalonde @bcopentext @bccampus

http://www.slideshare.net/bccampus

OTsummit.bccampus.ca