Educational Developers as Open Textbook Reps
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This document summarizes the efforts of educational developers at the University of Saskatchewan to promote the adoption of open textbooks. The developers met with instructors and departments to discuss replacing expensive commercial textbooks with free open textbooks. They initially saw success adopting open textbooks in principles of economics, biology, chemistry, and business courses, enrolling over 800 students in the first year. However, they faced barriers such as the time required for adapting or creating new materials to accompany open textbooks. Moving forward, the developers plan to continue promoting open textbooks, offer adaptation funding and support, and build on early adoption successes.
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Educational Developers as Open Textbook Reps
- 1. H E A T H E R M . R O S S & R Y A N B A N O W U N I V E R S I T Y O F S A S K A T C H E W A N O P E N E D U C A T I O N C O N F E R E N C E – N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 5 Educational Developers as Open Textbook Reps
- 2. “So far with a few exceptions, the only good way to get widespread adoption of curricular materials still seems to be to hire an army of sales reps to go knock on faculty doors. It is unclear when or how this will change.” - Feldstein, 2014
- 3. Textbook Reps Free printed copies of texts for instructors Customization Ancillary resources Free lunches and pens
- 4. Ed Developers Work with instructors and departments on: Curriculum development Course Design Other aspects of teaching and learning
- 5. The Conflict Rising textbook costs Vs. What textbook reps offer instructors
- 6. The Context University of Saskatchewan 21,001 students (16,871 undergrad) 1,180 instructors
- 8. MOU British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan 2013 What is says: “Facilitate cooperation between participants in the sharing and development of Open Education Resources Identify, share and encourage the use of best practices in Open Education Resources among the Participants; and Through the best use of technology for students, faculty and administrators, foster greater collaboration and understanding of key issues and trends in Open Education Resources between and among post-secondary institutions in the Participants’ jurisdictions.”
- 9. First Adoption Winter 2015 Principles of Economics (OpenStax) Agriculture and Bioresource 270 students Out of the box
- 10. Biology Attended session from textbook rep Floated idea of open textbook through passing conversation and emails with course coordinator Gave presentation to instructors a few months later Barrier – time to do an adaptation
- 11. Economics Principles of Economics Met with department head Met with department head and sessional Barriers: not enough questions in test bank time needed to create new slides But …
- 12. Economics Department head adopts for own courses Fall 2015 90 students
- 13. Chemistry Librarian introduced idea Analytical Chemistry 2.0 (Chem Wiki) Adoption for 2015-2016 120 students
- 14. School of Business Adoption for Fall 2015 360 students Adapting Study Skills (Open Textbook Library)
- 15. Geology Chapter authored Sessional instructor Physical Geology (Bccampus) Fall 2015
- 16. Additional Barriers Time (to find, adapt, create ancillary) Lack of knowledge about OER Lack of ancillary resources for some titles Instructors as authors of commercial texts Students prefer print?
- 17. What’s Working Mention open textbooks options at every chance Promote Mentions at other workshops Pitch to individual instructors Present Workshops on OER To committees
- 18. What’s Working Support Offer ongoing support Speak with policy makers about needed changes Print-on-demand option Unlimited free digital copies of books for everyone!
- 19. Moving Forward Funding Application process being established Emphasis on adaptation and ancillary Communications plan To announce funding and adoptions Get message out about textbook reviewing through BCcampus On campus and local media
- 20. Moving Forward Continue with what’s working Look for opportunities for collaboration Build on success – adopters as champions
Editor's Notes
- (http://mfeldstein.com/oer-future-knewton/)
- They bring not only free hard copies of books for instructors, but also promises of customization and a stack of ancillary resources such as test banks, PowerPoint slides, images, and online homework systems (plus lunches, pens and other swag).
- Ed developers work with individual instructors as well as departments on curriculum development, course design and other related aspects of teaching learning.
- The Problem Rising textbook costs is evident, but the presence of textbook reps and what they offer is a major barrier to change.
- The Context University of Saskatchewan Total number of students - 21,001 (16,871 undergraduate) Approximate number of instructors - 1,180
- University of Saskatchewan Student Union (undergraduate) President made open textbooks a key part of his election platform.
- 2013 - Province of Saskatchewan signs MOU with BC and Alberta agree to share and collaborate on OER.
- Fall 2014 - Teaching and learning centre puts up a poster from BCcampus and one instructors makes first adoption after seeing it:
- Approached Department of Biology Attended a session from a textbook rep Floated idea of open textbook through passing conversation and emails with course coordinator Gave presentation to instructors a few months later Time to do needed adaptation is a barrier
- Approached Department of Economics Met with department head, then department head with main sessional who teaches first year Time to do needed adaptation and add questions to test bank is a barrier Department head adopted a different book for his courses - 90 students in Fall 2015
- Chemistry Librarian mentioned open textbook options to an instructor looking for less expensive resources GMCTE worked with him to answer questions about copyright and ability to make changes, as well as his plans for evaluation 120 students throughout 2015-2016 academic year
- Approached School of Business Mentioned an open book to the associate dean and she said mention it to others, but did we know of a book for a course she was co-teaching Met with her to explain open textbooks and what she could do with the one we found 360 students in Fall 2015 Adapting as they go along with goal to produce a final sharable product
- Sessional lecturer wrote a blog post for a course through GMCTE in which she wrote about wanting an open textbook BCcampus approached GMCTE as to whether we knew the instructor and might she be interested in contributing to a book they had in the works Chapter contributed to book release in Fall 2015
- Additional Barriers Time (to find, to adapt, to create ancillary resources) Lack of knowledge of about OER Lack of ancillary resources for some titles Instructors as authors of commercial texts Students prefer print?
- Mention open textbook options at every chance Promote - Initial adoption from poster Pitch possible books or concept of OER to individual instructors - ESB, Economics, Chemistry & One on one meeting with instructor - instructor now reviewing astronomy open textbook for OpenStax Workshop on assessment - instructor now reviewing microbiology open textbook for OpenStax Presentations to committees Presentation to Teaching, Learning and Academic Resource Committee - instructor now in touch with UC Davis about open organic chemistry book
- Support Offer ongoing support for finding resources and advising on licensing, adapting, and developing OER. Speaking with policy makers about existing barriers and needs for ongoing institutional support Print on demand offered by U of S bookstore Unlimited free copies of books for everyone!
- Moving forward Funding Application process being established Emphasis on adaptations and ancillary resources Communications plan enacted To announce funding and adoptions already happening To get message out about BCcampus funding textbook reviews On campus and local media
- Continue with what’s working Look for opportunities for collaboration Build on success - adopters as spokespeople