Catch the Wave of the Future:

OER - Open Educational Resources and Open Textbooks

An Introduction to Faculty

Vicky Moyle, Instructor, General Studies, Mathematics

Bellingham Technical College

September 16, 2010

What’s it all about, and why should I care?

• What are OER & Open Textbooks?• What brought us here?

• “Why now?”• “Where do I fit in (and do I want to?)”

• Discover some resources• “What can I / should I do?”

What is OER?• Educational materials

shared openly• Courses, articles, videos,

modules, textbooks, files – usually digital

• Licensed but free to end user

• Available to use, reuse, repurpose, remix, redistribute - IMPROVE

Share

Use

Repurpose or improve

Redistribute

• Alternative Copyright Licensing

• Creative Open Source financial models

• Grants

• the Internet• Change in philosophy

• Government support

Social/

Political

Technical

Legal

Financial

What has enabled OER?

Student PIRGsDriving Action in Textbook Affordability

Students average

$900per year on

textbooks

Prices rising

2xthe rate of

Inflation

(some estimates are now

4x !)

Publishers had too much power –

Instructors had

limited influence

Students had virtually none

Publisher

STUDENTINSTRUCT

OR

Washington Governor signs HB 2300 with

WashPIRG students.

Federal Law in 2010

MinnesotaArizonaColoradoMissouri

ConnecticutWashingtonOregonOklahoma

Price Disclosure Laws

Change in Philosophy

• Open Source Software movement

• Openness and “architecture of participation” (O’Reilly 2003)

• “Knowledge as a collective social product”

(Prasad & Ambedkar cited in Downes 2007:1)

OPENING UP EDUCATION

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/online-education/2008/01/10/a-new-physics-superstar.html

Emergence of Alternative Licenses

Copyright ©Public

domain

Creative Commons: Facilitating Sharing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3rksT1q4eg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/2922421696/

http://veja.abril.com.br/imagem/professorantenado.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stylianosm/3706684606/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/3460307056/

➙700 Math & Physics Professors: “Stop unnecessary new editons”

➙23-Campus Calstate Senate passed voluntary adoption guidelines

➙UCLA Math department negotiated a 25% price cut with Thomson

Faculty Organized

As faculty members, we affirm that it is our prerogative and responsibility to select course materials that are pedagogically most appropriate for our classes. We also affirm that it is consistent with this principle to seek affordable course materials for our classes whenever possible. This includes open textbooks, which are textbooks offered online to students at no cost.

Open textbooks and other open educational resources present an affordable, comparable and flexible alternative to commercial course materials. Therefore, we the undersigned declare our intent to:

• Seek and consider open textbooks and other open educational resources when choosing course materials.

• Give preference to a low or no cost educational resource such as an open textbook over an expensive textbook if it best fits the needs of a class.

• Encourage institutions to develop support for the use of open textbooks and other open educational resources.

Open Textbooks Statement

2,500+Instructors & Professors

www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement

Why would anyone provide free content?

• Knowledge should be free• Education is a basic human

right• Education should have

barriers removed• Education should be

customized & localized

Maybe You are…INSPIRED:• Interested in using Open Educational Resources in

your classes?• Already using or developing OER?

SKEPTICAL:• Concerned about the quality of existing resources,

or applicability to your classroom?• Doubtful that you now have the time and skills

needed to develop or adapt open content materials?• Concerned about giving away intellectual property?• Doubtful about an efficient transition to OER?

Sustainable Model

• Revenue streams must extend beyond start-up• Infrastructure must have continual upgrade• Content must have continual upgrade• Plan for Staff development• Measurable & proven effectiveness • Market and measure the benefits to students• Market and measure the benefits to developers

and authors• Evaluation must be built-in

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Seven Myths aboutOpen Textbooks

1. Open Textbooks and eBooks are the same.

2. Creators never receive monetary compensation for open textbooks.

3. All open textbooks are crowd-sourced, i.e., created by anonymous amateurs.

4. Campus bookstores suffer from the use of open textbooks. (A fact; not a myth but we are working to change this.)

5. Derivatives damage the author’s reputation.

6. Open textbooks are low quality or out-of-date with expired copyrights.

7. Publishers are enemies of open textbooks.

Problem:

Students

Bookstore

Publisher

Textbooks are bought and sold several

times, but the publisher only profits

on the first sale

used books

Evolved Model that hurt publishers

Open Textbooks: A Solution

Publisher

Student

Professor

Open Textbooks Make the market more student-centric, without undermining faculty—give instructors more say too

PP

Open Textbooks: A Solution

Students

Bookstore

Publisher The normal

supply chain is restored &

publishers gain the opportunity

to sell directly to students

Open Textbooks Rework publishing models to be more efficient and sustainable

PP

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Instructor’s Dilemmaswith Traditional Textbooks and Supplemental materials

• No textbook fit exactly• All or nothing• Student complaints about high prices• More complaints

if only a few chapters were used

• Louder complaints if they had to find their own supplemental materials

• Uncertainty aboutwhat’s fair and legal to use

Instructors need QUALITY Most important issue

• Accurate content• Inviting presentation• Meet needs and expectations• Peer reviewed / vetted• Current• Adhere to professional standards• Accessible, localized• Requires constant evaluation

Redefine the model and the “text.”

Formats go beyond traditional textbooks:– Accessible free online by the public– Downloadable,

typically as a PDF– Available in print

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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 a small fee (costs for ink and paper)

– Sometimes available in bound copies for $10-$40Labeled for reuse by MrKCoolsPhotostream

What makes

a textbook open?

SOME rights reserved vs. ALL rights reserved

Open licenses legally grant the right to:– Make copies and change formats– Distribute copies– Create customized versions– Remix

(AS LONG AS

ATTRIBUTION

IS MADE)

Content is like traditional textbooks:– Table of contents, chapters, index– Written by expert author– Edited and reviewed

Open Textbooks – new editions on your own terms

say new editions are justified half the time or

less.

76% of faculty

For instructors:– All students have access to the text– New editions are optional– Ability to customize– Corrections are immediate

Open Textbooks Benefits

Open Textbooks – type of format on your own terms

Students show a strong preference for print as their primary format.

75%

Print

25%

Digital

For students:– Students choose their preferred format

(print, PDF, online, etc.)• Online access is free, • other formats are optional and fairly priced

Open Textbooks Benefits

For colleges:– Greater access to education for more

students– Save money– Textbooks customized to

a specific population

Open Textbooks Benefits

Open Textbooks BenefitsFor publishers:

• Digital and print-on-demand distribution is more efficient

• Circumvents two major challenges:

Used book death spiral no longer a threat

Piracy isn’t an issue – books are affordable or free!

Federal Legislation➙Competitive grant program

➙Through the NSF

➙Highest enrollment first

➙Must have plan for marketing

➙$15,000,000 per year!!!

Government funding:– A new bill introduced by Sen. Durbin (D-

IL) would create a federal grant program to create open textbooks through the NSF

– The WA community college system received state and private (Gates Foundation) funding to create open curriculum & texts for the 80 highest enrollment courses.

Open Textbook Models

Individual authors:

– Personally motivated

– Sabbatical time/grant funding

– Count open textbooks toward tenure?

– Motivated by fame, if not fortune?

A First Course in Linear Algebra

By Robert A. Beezer

http://linear.ups.edu

A First Course in Linear Algebra

By Robert A. Beezer

http://linear.ups.edu

PDF: FREEOnline: FREEPrint: $27.95

PDF: FREEOnline: FREEPrint: $27.95

Institutional projects:

– A consortium of nearly 100 community colleges is pooling resources to write and review texts

– Rice University founded CNX.org, a platform that hosts numerous open textbooks

– Hewlett & Maxfield Foundations funded the creation of a new open textbook projects

Collaborative Statistics

By B. Illowsky & S. Deancnx.org/content/col10522

Collaborative Statistics

By B. Illowsky & S. Deancnx.org/content/col10522

Two Community College Organizations

• Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) :– Over 97 colleges join to give 2-year schools a big

voice in open textbooks and more

• Community College Open Textbooks Collaborative (CCOTC) : – A group of 12 organizations (FHDA, FDLC, CNX

and more) funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to increase the demand and supply of open textbooks

Take a look at the websites….04/08/2023 58

CCCOER oerconsortium.org

04/08/2023 59

Goals of CCCOER

The primary goal of the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources is to identify, create and/or repurpose existing OER as Open Textbooks and make them available for use by community college students and faculty.  We seek the support of faculty to identify, review, evaluate, and make available high quality, accessible and culturally relevant model Open Textbooks.

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement encourages the creation of free, high-quality content for community college courses to replace commonly used textbooks.  By promoting OER, community colleges can create sustainable academic resources for students and provide professional development opportunities for faculty.  A wealth of public domain and fair use learning materials are currently available via the internet that faculty can repurpose for use in their classes to replace some of the books required for purchase by students.

CollegeOpenTextbooks.org

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CCOTC Goal

To adopt at least 10 open textbooks suitable for use in courses that meet

community college General Education requirements by faculty in at least 40 community colleges, representing at

least 5 states, within 2 years, (by June 2011).

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Open Textbook “Repositories”

➙Only the top quality books

➙Like a publisher site, only better

➙Reviews written by experts

➙Watch for new books

➙Information on using + adopting

Open Textbook Models

Publishers – for profit:

The first publisher of open textbooks was Flat World Knowledge. They launched their first titles in spring 2009, and now are adopted at more than 400 schools, including: Calstate-LA, Penn State, University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts, and University of Texas at Arlington

Organizational Behavior

By T. Bauer & B. Erdoganflatworldknowledge.com

Organizational Behavior

By T. Bauer & B. Erdoganflatworldknowledge.com

Online: FREE

PDF: $24.99Print: $29.99

Online: FREE

PDF: $24.99Print: $29.99

• First Open Textbook publisher

• 11 books in spring 2009

• Used at over 400 schools.

The FWK business model:– Develop textbooks traditionally (peer review,

editors, author royalties etc.)– Give instructors the option to customize– Offer textbooks free online to all students– Make money by selling print copies, study

guides, etc. that are attractive to students

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors

Social Learning

Fully Supported

Professionally Developed

Peer Reviewed

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

Authors

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors

Social Learning

Open

Open License

Open Platform

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

Authors

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors

Social Learning

Open Free

No Access Codes

Inside LMS

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

Authors

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors Free Open

Social Learning

Alternate Formats

Softcover Print

Audio

Self-Print

Kindle/Sony (coming)

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

Authors

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors

Social Learning

Alternate Formats Efficient Study Aids

Audio Study Guides

Online Practice Quizzes

Digital Flashcards

Free Open

Open Textbooks

Affordable Choices

Authors

The Flatworld Model

Top Authors

Social Learning

Alternate Formats Efficient Study Aids CollaborationFree Open

Why use OER and Open Textbooks?

• Reduce the costs of education to learners• Make education globally accessible • Collaborate, share and partner to use and provide

open content• Recognize creators and authors• Increase quality while localizing content• Improve our competitive edge• Avoid duplication of effort• Change a culture

04/08/2023 77

Open Textbooks Benefits

• Customize to suit YOUR needs

and your students

• Modular – use only the chapters

YOU want• Adapt to learning styles, cultures,

geographies, and more• Save paper, toner, and weight• Collaborative - feedback from

teachers and students to the creators (authors, illustrators, publishers, editors, technologists, etc.)

• Dynamic - Global textbook

improvement

• Saves money – Free for those with computers or

readers and Internet access– Low cost for printed and bound– Even classes without open

textbooks benefit because students can afford to take more classes

77

Photo by Fragmented CC licensed 2008

Introduction to Economic Analysis

R. Preston McAfee, Caltech

ISBN: 160049000X

Used at:Harvard, NYU, Cal Poly, UC-Santa Barbara, Caltech, Oregon State,

Claremont McKenna….

www.introecon.com

Online: FreePDF/Word: Free

Hard copy: $11.10

How to Select Open Textbooks

• Read the peer reviews; talk to other adopters

• Compare your selections on quality, fit, interoperability, accessibility, printability, cost for printing, cost for bound copies

• Select the best fit & remember: you can make it fit better!

04/08/2023 7979

For reuse by sp3ccylad's photostream

Discover, but not this way

04/08/2023 8080

 Results 1 - 10 of about 130,000,000 for chemistry

Discover open textbooks this way…

04/08/2023 81

Connexions website: cnx.org

04/08/2023 82

Collaborative StatisticsBy Barbara Illowsky and Susan Dean

cnx.org/content/col10522

Download PDF or print

Read online version

Purchase printed

copy

Purchasing a hard copy through print on demand

publisher QOOP

Inside an Open Textbook

Click here to print out

Key term links to

definition

Navigate table of contents

Start here with the peer reviews..

04/08/2023 87

Full review available with comments and ratings for each chapter

Colleges can offer support to faculty interested in adopting or writing open textbooks.

What Our Institution Can Do

Instructors can seek & consider open textbooks, and use other cost reducing practices.

What else can Instructors do?

• Start small by identifying usable content already available in the library or in an OER project

• Develop collaborative relationships within and external to the institution

• Communicate with students, administration, colleagues

• Advocate for faculty development opportunities• Sign the statement of intent• Write a textbook review (some $ available)• Spread the word• Learn, explore

04/08/2023 94

Steps to Adopt an Open Textbook

1. Discover

2. Select

3. Adopt

4. Use

94

San Miguel stairs creative commons licensed by larry&flo 2007

04/08/2023 95

How you can Use the Open Textbook

• Use for reading and homework only

• Use in classroom

via laptops• Link in Learning

Management System• Remediation• Lifelong learning

95

Adopt and Use

• Plan the class• Choose the parts of

the textbook that fit• Add other open

resources• Announce to the

stakeholders – See next slide

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Labeled for reuse by wockerjabby's photostream

The Downside…• Can require

organized, coordinated effort

• Books need reviewers

• There are not yet enough open texts

• Possible hidden infrastructure costs

04/08/2023 98

Stakeholders• Curriculum Committee, Department, Dean or other

group that approves textbook adoptions• Restrictions on computer/internet access requirements• Colleagues• College Bookstore • College Library• Media center• Print Shop• Teaching assistants• Students well in advance• Counselors & DSS

98

Thinking About Authoring Your Own

Open Textbook OR

Creating Own Version of Existing Open Text?

Accessibility & ADA Section 508 Compliance11% undergraduates disabled

P.O.U.R. acronym• Perceivable

• Operable• Understandable

• Robust

JAWS – screen reader software – authors need to make their texts compatible

New Commercial Platforms

DynamicBooks: the new generation of interactive textbooks

http://www.dynamicbooks.com/

Open Textbooks: Top Reasons

• Low-cost books and supplements• Use new editions on your terms• Make book fit your course• Doesn’t have to change your life very much• Do change student’s – choice for the first time• Level the playing field instantly – *IF* everyone has

internet access• No more access codes• Integrate into your LMS • Support a market-based solution.

Learn more• BTC Resources wiki:

http://btcresources.wikispaces.com/• Center for Open Sustainable Learning:

http://cosl.usu.edu/• Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/• UNESCO:

http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/focus/opensrc/opensrc_1.htm

• Open CourseWare Consortium: http://www.ocwconsortium.org/index.html

• Connexions: http://cnx.org• Sakai: http://www.sakaiproject.org/• Merlot: http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

Some Specific ExamplesA High School Biology Textbook

Textbooks for the California Learning Resource Network – These textbooks have already undergone peer-review.

Open Textbook CollectionsCommunity College Open Textbook Collaborative - This should be our first stop. I liked the amount of finished work represented by this project and the fact that they have English textbooks.

OER Commons - There are a lot of textbooks here that will be of interest to us. Under recommended resources click on "textbooks.“

Open Textbook Catalog: studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks

Project Sites for OER and Open TextbooksSophia Open Content Initiative - This is from De Anza and a good example of a grant-driven project in California.

Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources - This project site has a lot of useful links.

Open Education Resources Center for California - This is a good site for more information and resources in California.

Making Textbooks More Affordable: a report of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.

Learn more

04/08/2023 107

Open textbooks…the wave of the future

Catch it.

Thank You

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 USA License. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/za/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco,

California, 94105, USA.

This work was created and remixed by Vicky Frankfourth Moyle with original material and from:

Geoff Cain, College of the Redwoods, Californiahttp://www.slideshare.net/geoffcain/open-textbookspresentation

Nicole Allen for Student PIRGs www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks

“Building a Global Teaching Profile” by Michael Paskevicius, Michelle Willmers and Cheryl Hodgkinson Williams of the University of Cape Town

http://www.slideshare.net/mpaskevi/building-a-global-teaching-profile-showcasing-open-educational-resources-at-the-university-of-cape-town“How to Adopt an Open Textbook” by a grant from Open Textbook Advocates