Beyond Free
The BC Open Textbook Project
Clint Lalonde
Manager, Open Education
VIU January 15, 2015
Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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Open Educational Resources & Open Textbooks
Implications of textbook costs
6 beyond free benefits
The BC Open Textbook Project

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

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

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

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

Where do they come from?

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

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

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

Students spend
$1200/yr on textbooks
3x rate of inflation in
10 years (6x 1985)
2nd biggest
educational expense
after tuition
Source: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market U.S. PIRG
Cover image: Center for Public Interest Research used under CC-BY 4.0 license

“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

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

Start talking about cost

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)

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 a good deal

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

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.”

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.

Beyond Free Benefit #5
Opportunities for collegial
collaboration to create
stronger resources

Sprints
2 Days
17 Psych Faculty
6 Institutions
850 Questions

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
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

Publish Many
Write Once

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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

Outreach