Presentation to Selkirk faculty on the BC Open Textbook Project

1. BC Open
Textbook Project
Clint Lalonde
Manager, Open Education
Selkirk Discovery Days February 13, 2015
Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Feel free to use, modify or distribute any or all of this presentation with attribution

2. What problems are we trying to address?
What are Open Textbooks
The BC Open Textbook Project
Activities:
• Explore open.bccampus.ca
• Test an open textbook on iPad

3. Connect the expertise, programs, and resources of
all BC post-secondary institutions under a
collaborative service delivery framework
1
2
3
Open Education & Professional Learning
Student Services & Data Exchange
Collaborative Programs & Shared Services

4. 1
Connect 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 Resources
Support the development of effective teaching & learning practices
Open Education & Professional Learning

5. 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)

6. Okay, textbook cost & why it is important

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

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

9. 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)

10. 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)

11. Students spend $1200/yr on
textbooks
3x rate of inflation in 10
years
812% increase since 1978
(250% CPI)
2nd biggest educational
expense after tuition
Sources: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market U.S. PIRG, US Census Bureau
Cover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

12. “The cardinal lesson is that
prices rise unchecked if the
people who order the goods
aren’t paying the prices. “
http://www.wsj.com/articles/craig-richardson-the-250-econ-101-textbook-1421192341?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LatestHeadlines

13. Start talking about cost

14. But it is about more than just money
& debt

15. There are pedagogical implications
to high textbook costs

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

17. How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014
What is going on here?

18. 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

19. Textbook Costs vs Student Success
Source: 2012 student survey by Florida Virtual Campus
Slide: CC-BY Cable Green, Creative Commons via http://www.project-kaleidoscope.org/
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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

20. Students Get Savvier about Textbook Buying,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 2013
Emma Anderson, 21
Political 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, 20
Economics, 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, 63
Anthropology, 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.”

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

24. But I want to keep my textbook!

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

26. Day 1 access to resources

27. “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?

28. Problems
1. Textbooks are expensive
2. Students are not using them
3. Students can’t keep them
4. Students can fall weeks behind
5. Learning is negatively affected

29. Open textbooks can help

30. What are Open Textbooks?
A textbook licensed under an open
copyright license, and made available
online 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, should students opt for these.

31. What are Open Textbooks?
A textbook licensed under an open
copyright license, and made available
online to be freely used by students,
teachers and members of the public. They
are available for free as online versions,
and as low-cost printed versions, should
students opt for these.

32. Choices for students (and for adapters)
Old Leather books, by Wyoming_Jackrabbit used under a CC-BY-NC-SA

33. Where do open textbooks come from?

34. What are Open Textbooks?
A textbook licensed under an open
copyright license, and made available
online to be freely used by students,
teachers and members of the public. They
are available for free as online versions,
and as low-cost printed versions, should
students opt for these.

35. 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

36. 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

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

38. “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

39. 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.”

40. 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.

41. Credit: Adopting Open Textbooks Workshop by Paul Stacey licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY

42. Creative Commons License Features

43. The Project

44. 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

45. Our goals
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

46. 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

47. open.bccampus.ca

48. 79

49. Faculty Reviews ($250)
291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

50. Faculty Reviews
Faculty Reviewers

51. Reviews > Adaptations ($5k-$10k)
My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

52. Creations ($10k and up)

53. Sprints
2 Days
17 Psych Faculty
6 Institutions
850 Questions

54. Sprints

55. 14

56. Results
Year Faculty Sections Students Savings
2013 12 18 553 $84,560
2014 39 75 2570 $360,196.50
2015
(Jan-April)
31 68 2142 $252,285.65
Total 82 161 5265 $697,042.15

57. Activity
Testing open textbooks on the iPad
Activity outline: bit.ly/selkirkipad

58. Thank You
open.bccampus.ca
@clintlalonde @bccampus
http://www.slideshare.net/bccampus