OER and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis (University of Guelph #OAWeek)

@txtbks | sparc.arl.org
textbook
cost crisis
Nicole Allen (nicole@sparc.arl.org)
Director of Open Education, SPARC
Except where otherwise
noted...
theOER and solving

@txtbks
www.slideshare.com/txtbks

Figure 1: Estimated Increases in New College Textbook Prices, College Tuition and
Fees, and Overall Consumer Price Inflation, 2002 to 2012
prices grew by 28 percent.

Average Estimated Undergraduate
Budgets, 2014-15
Source: College Board
Books & Supplies = $1,225

“the straw that broke the
camel’s back”

Source: Student PIRGs

@txtbks | sparc.arl.orgImage © from http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/showbiz/heat-director-buddy-cop/

Market Failure

Market Failure
5 major
publishers hold
nearly 90% of
the market
Source: Turning the Page by James Koch

students are
captives, not
consumers

2 in 3
Students say they decided against
buying a textbook because the cost is
too high
Source: Student PIRGs

1 in 2
Students say they have at some point
taken fewer courses due to the cost of
textbooks
Source: Florida Virtual Campus

<1 in 2
Students purchase a current
edition of their textbook
Source: Book Industry Study Group

Students can’t learn
from materials
they can’t afford

We can do better.

OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES

Hewlett Foundation Definition:
“OER are teaching, learning, and
research resources that reside in the
public domain or are released under an
intellectual property license that permits
their free use and repurposing by
others”

Free + 5R Permissions

Free + 5R Permissions
• Retain
• Reuse
• Revise
• Remix
• Redistribute

open licensing system
www.creativecommons.org

use © to enable
free
& open use

most
open
least
open
OER

how is OER
created?

ocw.mit.edu

oercommons.org

openstaxcollege.org

open.umn.edu

bccampus.ca/open-textbook-project

http://open.bccampus.ca

oli.cmu.edu

$1M student savings, and counting

using OER in 1 course
per year could save
$1.42
billion

how is OER
being used?

phet.colorado.edu

Open Textbook (Example)
• Free online
• Free PDF
• Free ePub
• Print $49.73
• Instructor can adapt
and distribute

The cost of college textbooks has risen 812% since 1978, more
than the rates of inflation, health care, new home prices, and
college tuition.
More and more, college students are unable to afford their
textbooks, and as many as 70% of students have reported
avoiding buying at least one textbook for their courses. Not
surprisingly, these students do not do as well academically.
As of May 2013, if a TCC student purchased all of the textbooks
required for a business administration degree, that student would
spend $3,678.95 on new books. While used textbooks may lower
this price, their availability is, at best, uneven.
But the problem with printed textbooks goes beyond financial cost; textbooks “ cost” students and teachers
in other ways as well.
Because textbooks are frequently written for broad audiences in the hopes that they will fill the learning
support needs and be adopted by large numbers of faculty and departments, they are filled with content
and exercises that are superfluous to a specific course’ s learning outcomes. The cost here is in teaching
efficiency and effectiveness.
Fortunately a solution to both problems exists.
Beginning in Fall 2013, TCC became the first college in the U.S. to create an Associate of Science degree
based solely on open educational resources (OER), academically vetted and publicly licensed content. After
Tidewater CommunityCollege
ismakingcollegemoreaffordable.

Supporting Adoption
Developmental Math Results"
Percentage passing with C or better
48.40%
60.18%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Spring 2011
No OER
Spring 2013
All OER
n=2,842
About Lumen Lear
Open Educational Resources represent a
and learners, while at the same time imp
unsure what to do to help their institution
This is where Lumen enters the picture.
Co-founded by open education visionary
Lumen is dedicated to facilitating broad,
After years of pioneering work in open ed
Generation Learning Challenges grant-fu
textbooks with OER in community colleg
50% and improving student success rate
resulted in moving the cost of required te
10% compared to student performance in
You can read more about the Kaleidosco
Adding this concrete proof to the body of
help more educational institutions and st
Lumen helps institutional leaders and fac
! Finding quality content and mapp
around the country to review and agg
into Open Courses that match gener
course frameworks online. This proc
individual or institution to download a
! Incorporating OER into academic
consulting services to help institution
sense to introduce OER into courses
Source: Lumen Learning

impact.lumenlearning.com

pm4id.org

“open educational resources
can help react to a new
situation very quickly in a way
traditional textbooks cannot”

what is the role of
policy?

skillscommons.org

how can you
get involved?

(1) Make sure faculty
who want to share
can share

(2) Make sure faculty
who want to use
OER have the
support they need

Libraries & OER Forum
www.sparc.arl.org/liboer
#LibOER

(3) Involve students in
everything you do

#textbookbroke

www.opencon2015.org | @open_con

use the internet to do
what it was meant for to
benefit society

Nicole Allen
nicole@sparc.arl.org
@txtbks

OER and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis (University of Guelph #OAWeek)

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