Working Together for Students
Open Textbook Collaboration
BC and Manitoba
Clint Lalonde
Manager, Open Education, BCcampus
Campus Manitoba Webinar
October 22, 2015
Photo: IMG_4590 by Tom Woodward CC-BY-NC

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.

1. The textbook problem
2. What are open textbooks?
3. The importance of faculty reviews
4. The process: How Manitoba faculty
reviews work

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

The Problem

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…

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

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)

Why Textbooks Cost So Much, The Economist, August 16, 2014

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

Principal/Agent Problem

“The cardinal lesson is that
prices rise unchecked if the
people who order the goods
aren’t paying the prices.”
The $250 Econ 101 Textbook, Craig Richardson, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2015

Drugs and Prescriptions Seth Anderson CC-BY-NC-SA

Start talking about cost

But it is about more than just debt

There are pedagogical implications
to high textbook costs

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

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

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

“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?

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.”

“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

Problems
1. Textbooks are expensive
2. Students are not using them
3. Students can’t keep them
4. Students can fall weeks behind
5. Students are taking more time to finish
6. Learning is negatively affected

Open textbooks can help

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.

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.

Where do open textbooks come from?

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

Faculty have full legal rights to
customize & contextualize open
textbooks to fit their pedagogical
needs

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 9152 $915,200 - $1.196 mil

Beyond Free

Improve Learning

Fischer, L., Iii, J. H., Robinson, T. J., & Wiley, D. A. (2015). A multi-institutional study of the impact of open textbook adoption on
the learning outcomes of post-secondary students.
Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 1–14. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-015-9101-x

Course completion
• OTB Students were as likely or more likely to complete their course
• In one course, the completion rate 15% higher for students using open
textbooks.
Grades
• Final grades => than those assigned traditional textbooks.
• ¼ courses OTB students achieved higher grades
Credit load
• OTB students took approx 2 credits more both in the semester of the study and
in the following semester.
Overall success
• OTB Students in more than ½ of the courses that used open textbooks did
better according to at least one academic measure used in the study
• Students in 93% of these courses did at least as well by all of the measures.
Adapted from College Textbooks: Do You Get What You Pay For by Nicole Allen CC-BY

11 Peer Reviewed Studies
48,623 Students
93% Same or Better Outcomes
Source: http://openedgroup.org/
Credit: adapted from David Wiley CC-BY

The Project

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

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

New Creations

open.bccampus.ca

open.campusmanitoba.com

Faculty Reviews ($250)
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

Review Process

Overview
• $250 per review
• 25 reviews from Manitoba
• To qualify: teaching in the subject area at an approved Manitoba
institution
• Reviews published alongside the book in both Manitoba and BC sites
• Reviews done against standard rubric – both qualitative and
quantitative
• Reviews are released with a CC-BY-ND (No Derivative) licenses
• 3 months to do a review
• No print copies of books. Electronic versions.

Step 1: Apply to review

Step 1: Apply to review

Step 1: Apply to review

Step 1: Apply to review
Instructions & Unique Link

Step 2: Download and review

Step 3: Complete your review online

Step 3: Complete your review online

Step 4: Display and Payment
• Once submitted, displays 24 hours later on both site
• Automatically triggers payment notification to BCcampus
• Contacted by BCcampus for mailing address and additional info
• Cheques issued and mailed by SFU
• 6-8 weeks

Questions?
open.bccampus.ca
@clintlalonde @bccampus
http://www.slideshare.net/bccampus