“Supporting Open Textbook Adoptions” by Michelle Reed is licensed CC BY and is modified from Open Textbook Network slides prepared by David Ernst and Sarah Cohen. Images are individually licensed as noted. It was presented in Fayetteville at the University of Arkansas on September 24, 2019.

1. SUPPORTING
OPEN
TEXTBOOK
ADOPTIONS
@open_textbooks
Michelle Reed
Director of Open Educational Resources
University of Texas at Arlington
@LibrariansReed

2. Thank you!

3. Open Textbook Network

7. Community
Best Practices
- Guides
- Templates
- Expertise
Strategies
- Action-based
- Adoption
- Publishing
Shared
Solutions
- OTL
- Slides
- Data collection
Prof. Dev.
- Working groups
- Mailing list
- OTNSI

8. Today, we will…
• Explore issues of affordability and their
impact on student academic success.
• Increase familiarity with open textbooks,
tools, and local open education initiatives.
• Discuss why and how you might support
open textbook initiatives.

9. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“The Workshop” Strategy
A framework for engaging faculty
Review
Gets faculty to take
the time to engage
with a textbook so
they can see if it
could work for
them.
Open Textbook Library
Makes faculty
aware that there are
open textbook
options for them to
consider.
Workshop
Helps faculty
understand what
open textbooks are
and addresses
misconceptions and
concerns.

10. Our Focus: Open Education

11. What do we mean by “open”?

13. open = free + permissions
copy mix
share keep
edit use

16. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
A bit about the library (and open
textbooks).

17. open.umn.edu/opentextbooks

19. connect faculty
with open options
open.umn.edu/opentextbooks

20. comprehensive
referatory*
*All the books!

21. Criteria for inclusion
openly licensed*
*That means everything, including images.
✓ Portable file
✓ Complete textbook
✓ Institutional or scholarly society affiliation, or in use in more than one location
✓ Original (unless it’s a major overhaul for a new audience)

22. 11 Accounting & Finance
58 Business
56 Computer Science & Information Systems
19 Economics
33 Education
17 Engineering
117 Humanities
12 Journalism, Media Studies & Communications
54 Law
82 Mathematics
9 Medicine
54 Natural Sciences
48 Social Sciences
14 Student Success
514 Total Books (a book may be included in multiple subject areas)

23. Where do the books come from?
• Funded initiatives
• Independent authors
• Discipline collectives
• Other places

26. 67% faculty reviewed

27. Open Textbook Review Criteria
Comprehensiveness
Content Accuracy
Relevance Longevity
Clarity
Consistency
Modularity
Organization Structure Flow
Interface
Grammatical Errors
Cultural Relevance

29. Why Textbooks?
• Hits a major pain point – textbook costs
• Faculty understand textbooks
• Faculty know how to adopt textbooks
• Faculty effort (vs. alternatives) is kept at a
minimum - textbooks can provide content
for a complete (or nearly complete)
course

30. Why Open?
• Removes financial barriers for all students
• Facilitates the free exchange of knowledge
• Gives more control to faculty
• Can be used to innovate pedagogy
• Sharing is scalable

31. It’s about making the case for
something (sort of) new.

33. http://www.sheeo.org
Higher Education Funding - US

35. The average borrower owes more than
$28,699
in student loans (class of 2016).
https://drexel.edu/~/media/Files/institutionalresearch/Factbook/1718FinancialAid.ashx?la=en
University of Arkansas: $25,778 (2017-18)
Graduating students who have borrowed (any loan type): 47%

36. What can we do?
• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Books and Supplies
• Personal Expenses
• Transportation

37. What can we do?
• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Books and Supplies
• Personal Expenses
• Transportation

38. Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/cpi/

40. Students are told to
budget between
$1240 - $1440
each year for
books and supplies.
What they are
actually spending is
more like $415 per
year.
Why the difference?
https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimated-
undergraduate-budgets-2018-19
http://www.nacs.org/advocacynewsmedia/pressreleases/tabid/1579/ArticleID/867/Stude
nt-Spending-on-Course-Materials-Declines.aspx
University of Arkansas
$1,100

41. Coping with the Cost
• Purchase an older edition of the textbook
• Delay purchasing the textbook
• Never purchase the textbook
• Share the textbook with other students
• Download textbooks from the internet

42. In your academic career, has the cost of
required textbooks caused you to:
2012 2016
63.6% 66.5% Not purchase the required textbook
49.2% 47.6% Take fewer courses
45.1% 45.5% Not register for a specific course
33.9% 37.6% Earn a poor grade
26.7% 26.1% Drop a course
17.0% 19.8% Fail a course
http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/pdf/2012_Florida_Student_Textbook_Survey.pdf

43. Today, we asked University of Arkansas
faculty to explore a book in the open
textbook library by writing a review.

44. +
+

45. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Faculty Adoption Decisions
250+ workshops
3250+ faculty
45% adopt

46. And then what?

47. What “barriers” to adoption do
you hear
(or anticipate hearing)
from faculty?

48. Common deterrents to adopting OER:
-No comprehensive catalog.
-Too hard to find what I need.
-Not enough resources for my subject.
-Not knowing if I have permission to use or
change.
-Not relevant to my local context.
Babson Survey Research Group, 2014

49. They don’t know much about them.
Faculty are busy:
• Prepping for their
courses
• Responding to students
• Grading
• Mentoring
• Research
• Grant writing
• Committee Work
• The list goes on…

50. Most common obstacle?

53. What does supporting open
textbook adoptions look like at the
University of Arkansas?

54. Affordability
Improve access to content
Increase engagement
Improve retention
Academic Freedom
Pedagogical innovation
Faculty expertise
Open educational practices
Social Justice
Diversifying and amplifying voices
Acknowledging and addressing
disparities
Open
textbooks
address:

55. When you do talk with faculty…

56. Avoid Demonizing

57. Educate, Don’t Sell

58. Let Faculty Be The Judge

59. Do what you already do.
• Listen.
• Have conversations.
• Introduce new
options.

60. We need YOU
• You are leaders on your
campus.
• You work with and
support faculty on your
campus.
• You share resources,
options, ideas, and tools
with faculty.

61. Continue to celebrate achievements
you go,
y’all

62. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
What are your next steps?

63. Successful
Open Education
Initiatives

64. Low stakes
• Share resources:
– the Open Textbook Library,
– your website
– news
– research (http://openedgroup.org/)
• Reach out to today’s faculty participants
• Learn more about textbooks on your campus
– Talk to students
– Talk to faculty
• Outreach for current initiatives

65. +
+

73. A bit higher
• Student survey
• Student videos
• Partnerships: Center for Teaching and
Learning + Educational Services
• OT listserv/learning community
• Adopter awards, profiles, panels

74. Local
Data
Peer to
Peer

79. “It isn’t just affordable –
it’s affordable, and it’s
just as good a book.”

82. High stakes
• Grant programs (university, system,
state, or federal)
• OER pathways, Z-Degree programs
• OER-identified courses at registration
• Publishing open textbooks
• Hosting creation sprints

84. https://youtu.be/jRjTRza_I18

89. “The textbook given to us this semester was absolutely
amazing. It gave all the information we needed very clearly
and made it interesting to learn with the modern examples and
cool extra facts about France obtaining to our lesson.”
“Madame Soueid is awesome and she wrote a really engaging
and fun french book!”
“The book provided for the course was very helpful and well
written. Because it was very specific for the class, the book
was extremely useful.”

90. “It is awesome and cost effective for students who have limited income and it is a
great program which should be supported and highlighted in the college
mainstream.”
“Very great resources and relevant to course. Low cost materials helped focus
more on learning rather than worrying about how to pay for the education coming
from different resources that may cost money, which helped the grade overall.”
“I am very delighted that UTA is moving towards free or reduced-cost textbooks
that are online. I am a low-income student and these resources help me greatly.”

94. “I would like to know why
not all the subjects offer free
or reduced books.”

95. Thank you.