eCampus Alberta Operational Retreat presentation on the BC Open Textbook Project

1. Into the Great Wide Open by Maarten van Maanen used under CC-BY-SA license
eCampus Alberta Operational Retreat
October 27, 2015
Clint Lalonde, BCcampus

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

3. Spark, CBC Radio, October 15, 2015

5. BC Open Textbook Project

6. 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

7. 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)

8. The Problem

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

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. 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

12. Average student debt difficult to pay off, CBC, March 11, 2014
Student Debt in Canada, Canadian Federation of Students, Fall 2013
After three years of post-secondary
schooling in Nova Scotia, Verge
graduated in 2008 with about $25,000 of
debt — just about the national average.
More than five years later, she has only
managed to pay back about $2,000.
For people like Verge, high debt loads are
not only a financial stress but can delay
the time it takes individuals or couples to
reach certain milestones, such as having
children, getting married or owning
property…

13. There are pedagogical implications
to high textbook costs

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.”

17. “Learning is a very human activity.
The more people feel they are being
treated as human beings – that their
human needs are being taken into
account – the more they are likely to
learn, and learn to learn”
Malcom Knowles

19. A textbook licensed under an open
copyright license, and made available
for free as online and electronic versions,
or as low-cost printed versions, to be
freely used by students, teachers and
members of the public.

20. BC Open Textbook Project
40 open textbooks for highest
enrolled 1st & 2nd year post-
secondary subjects in BC
20 for skills & training
$2 million
AB & SASK MOU
Manitoba Review Project
Visual notes of John Yap announcement, Giulia Forsythe Used under
CC-SA license

21. 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

22. New Creations

23. open.bccampus.ca

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

25. Reviews > Adaptations
My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook
291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

26. BCOER Librarians

27. Sprints

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

29. Results
# of textbooks in collection 118 (79/39)
Creations 58
Adaptations 10
Ancillary projects 7
Reviews 112 (56 books)
Institutions 18
Faculty 86
Sections 285
Downloads 49,322

30. Results
Year Sections Students Savings
2013 19 593 $59,300 - $87,960
2014 88 2998 $299,800 - $430,672.50
2015 178 5561 $556,100 - $678,029.65
Total 285 9,152 $915,200 - $1.196 mil

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