Presentation on open textbooks at the Emerging Learning design conference at Montclair State University (NJ-USA) June 2011

1. Open Learning Through Open Textbooks Ken RonkowitzSession sponsored by NJEDge.NetAdvocate/Trainer: Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources oerconsortium.org Passaic County Community College & NJIT Emerging Learning Design June 3rd, 2011at Montclair State University http://eld.montclair.edu

2. Pushing school districts to convert Ready or not, Florida school districts may be required to spend half of their textbook budgets on digital materials in just two years. But school districts are reluctant to embrace a mandate they say is too costly and doesn’t take into account students without Internet access. Tucked into education funding bills in the state House and Senate are proposals that push school districts to convert from traditional, bulky hardback textbooks to electronic books, available on a computer or handheld device such as Amazon’s Kindle or Apple’s iPad. These proposals came after state education officials unveiled an ambitious plan in February to require all students in grades K-12 to use only electronic materials in the classroom by 2015. http://flaglerlive.com/20280/electronic-textbooks-florida

3. It’s Bigger Than Open Textbooks

4. 6/1/2011 4 Open Goes Mainstream? Free Books…Project Gutenberg has taken out-of-copyright books in the public domain and scanned them into its library… Want to download a copy to your computer, Kindle or iPhone? Head to ManyBooks.net. The use of so-called open source textbooks, offered by companies like FlatWorld Knowledge, is also on the rise. “Students who are assigned open source textbooks can usually download a copy for free, or they can buy a printed and bound version for $20 to $40,” Ms. Allen said. (Suggest it to your future professors.)

6. Don’t purchase textbooks

7. Take fewer classes

8. Select classes based on textbook costsTextbooks 186% Inflation 72% Source: GAO

9. Bundling…text comes with CengageNOW, Personal Tutor, SMARTHINKING, InfoTrac 2-Semester Printed Access Card $213.95 Used 5th Edition Online @ $14.94-$81.78 New 6th Edition $213.95 $238.95

10. Open Textbooks One Solution

11. Introduction to Economic Analysis R. Preston McAfee, Caltech ISBN: 160049000X Used at: Harvard, NYU, Cal Poly, UC-Santa Barbara, Caltech, Oregon State… www.introecon.com Online: Free PDF/Word: Free Hard copy: $15.20

12. Collaborative Statistics Barbara Illowsky & Susan Dean ISBN: 9780978745973 For more information: www.collegeopentextbooks.org Online: Free PDF/Word: Free Hard copy: $31.98

13. My Introduction to Open Textbooks I found a text I wanted to use for $47 on Amazon After searching online using the usual search paths, I stumbled upon collegeopentextbooks.org and searched on the author

14. That title was not listed, but another book by the same author…

15. Which led me to… cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/ A authorized wiki that offers his book to read or download for free (pdf), plus reviews and blogs, discussions, interviews, video & audio resources And materials on his publisher’s site yupnet.org/benkler/ And the other title by Benkler…

16. Is available from Lulu for $5.14 or as a free download

17. Why leave traditional textbooks? No textbook fits exactly - and it’s take it or leave it. (Although this is changing even with traditional publishers due to pressure from students, alternative distribution options and open resources.) Students complain - about high prices - an average two-year college student spends nearly 75% of what they spend on tuition on textbooks - if only a few chapters are used in the course - when they are sent to different places for readings and materials Textbooks are bundled with [too] many re$ources, labs etc. Print textbooks don’t have the advantages of eTextbooks – but commercial eTextbooks are not open. 14

19. An open textbook is… Modifiable by the instructor Digital, Modular Adaptable Low cost to the students Usually free for those with computers and internet access Printable for “free” or for a small fee (print centers etc.) Sometimes available in bound copies for $10-$40 Labeled for reuse Flickr MrKCools 16

20. An open textbook has been… Changed by the creators fromCopyrightAll Rights Reserved toCopyleftSome Rights Reserved under an open licensee.g., Creative Commons License From the Creative Commons store 17

21. Creators never receive monetary compensation for an open textbook. Written by anonymous amateurs or crowd-sourced. Derivative versions damage the author’s reputation. They are of lower quality or they are Out-of-date (expired copyrights, public domain) editions. Publishers and bookstores are enemies of open textbooks. (Okay, that’s partially true…) Open Textbooks and eBooks are the same thing  18 Some Open Textbook Myths

22. Open Textbooks& e-Textbooks E-texts (publisher online textbooks): Have restrictive licenses (e.g. no modifications) Still costly Accessible for a limited time period (semester) Usually have restrictions on the amount of material students can print Open Textbooks: Can usually be modified/customized Can be viewed/read for no cost online Are permanently available in a repository or as a download Can be fully printed for a low cost

24. More adaptable to learning styles, cultures, geographies, devices… (than proprietary files/devices)

25. Use only content is needed: saves paper, toner, and weight – may also avoid some confusion for students

26. More feedback from teachers and students to the creators (authors, illustrators, publishers, editors...) for global textbook improvement

27. Free for those with computers or readers and Internet access & lower cost for printed and bound versions

28. Students can better afford more classes & other books or materials 20 Some Benefits of Open Textbooks

29. The Process in 3 Steps Identify Titles Evaluate Adopt CC licensed by larry&flo 2007

30. Starting Out Use repositories Do NOT search here 22

31. Curriculum Committee, Department, Dean or other group that approves textbook adoptions IT – any restrictions on requiring computer/internet access? Department colleagues, adjuncts, TAs College bookstore College library / Media center Print Shop Students (soft launch?) Others? 23 Get All Stakeholders Involved Early

32. Step 1 Identifying Titles Full reviews are also available with comments and ratings for each chapter 24

33. What is a Digital Repository? A system to store and manage a variety of digital resources Content is created once stored once used or repurposed times Facilitates discoveryof resources Users can link to OR download resources Users can ADD resources

34. Other Digital Repositories

35. Search By… Subject Student Learning Objectives Course titles, descriptions Level Format Material type (Quiz, reading, etc.) Author or expert

37. Use standardized criteria based on discipline requirements and best practices

38. How should the criteria differ from those created for printed textbooks?

40. Appropriateness

41. Accessibility

42. Authority (authors)

43. Content

44. Cultural relevance

45. Currency

46. Easily customizable

47. Flexible format

48. Modularity

49. Peer reviewed

50. Portability

51. Reading level

52. Usable interface

53. Error-free

54. Timeliness

59. One Online View Download to print or offer as file Online version Buy hard copy

60. Sample Chapter Navigate Key terms link to definition

61. 3 Adoption and Use

62. 3 Adopt and Use Choose the parts of the textbook that fit your course, rather than letting the textbook drive curriculum design and the syllabus. 37 37

64. Use for readings and homework only

65. Use only in classroom

66. Use in the Learning Management System

67. Use for remediation (offer a prior level textbook)

68. Use for lifelong learning, dual enrollment, grants, K20 initiatives…From Flickr ronk53 38

69. Get Involved

70. Join In The College Open Textbooks Community is active online at CollegeOpenTextbooks.ning.com

72. 97 colleges give 2-year schools a big voice in open textbooks and other OER

73. The original Community College Open Textbooks Collaborative was a group of 12 organizations funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to increase the demand and supply of open textbookshttp://oerconsortium.org 41

74. Presentations, information & updates http://pccc.libguides.com/etextbooks 42

75. Ken Ronkowitz kronkowitz@pccc.edu ronkowitz@njit.edu Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlikeThis license lets you to remix, tweak, and build upon this presentation non-commercially, as long as you credit me and license your new creations under the identical terms. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/