The document summarizes Nicole Allen's presentation on using open educational resources (OER) to address the high cost of textbooks. It outlines the problem of rising textbook prices that impact students, presents OER as a solution by providing free and openly licensed textbooks, and calls for action including creating more OER, supporting adoption, raising awareness, developing supportive policies, and campus advocacy efforts.

1. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
OER and Solving the
Textbook Cost Crisis
Nicole Allen
OER Program Director, SPARC
Open Education Conference
November 7, 2013 Park City, UT
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

2. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
SPARC®, the Scholarly Publishing and
Academic Resources Coalition, is an
international alliance of academic and research
libraries working to create a more open system of
scholarly communication.
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

3. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
THE PROBLEM
IMPACT ON
STUDENTS
OER AS A
SOLUTION
ACTION
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

4. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

5. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

6. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

7. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
$1,207
Average student budget for
books and supplies for 20132014 year
http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimatedundergraduate-budgets-2013-14
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

8. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
82%
Increase of textbook prices
2002-2012
(3x the rate of inflation)
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-368
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

9. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-368
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

10. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
$8.8 billion
Annual size of the US higher
education textbook market
http://info.xplana.com/report/pdf/Xplana_Whitepaper_2011.pdf
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

11. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
“Broken Market”
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

12. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
THE PROBLEM
IMPACT ON
STUDENTS
OER AS A
SOLUTION
ACTION
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

13. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

14. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

15. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

16. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Conventional Measures
% Student Savings Over New Print Text
E-Readers
39%
E-Books
52%
Rentals
Used Books
61%
25%
http://www.studentpirgs.org/reports/cover-cover-solution
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

17. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
1 in 3
Students report downloading
course material from an
unauthorized website
(up from 1 in 5 in 2010)
http://www.bisg.org/news-5-847-press-release-now-available-student-attitudestoward-content-in-higher-education-volume-3.php
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

18. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
2 in 5
Students report they have
shared books with classmates
to reduce costs
http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/pdf/2010_fsts_report_01sep2011.pdf
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

19. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
7 in 10
Undergraduates skipped
buying one or more texts due
to cost
http://www.studentpirgs.org/news/ap/high-prices-prevent-college-students-buyingassigned-textbooks
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

20. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
1 in 4
Students say they frequently
or occasionally do not register
for a course due to the cost of
the textbook
http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/pdf/2010_fsts_report_01sep2011.pdf
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

21. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
THE PROBLEM
IMPACT ON
STUDENTS
OER AS A
SOLUTION
ACTION
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

22. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Enter Open
Textbooks
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

23. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Textbooks
• Free, online, accessible to all students
starting day one of the course
• Available in many flexible formats
including print for $20-40
• Openly licensed and adaptable by
instructors
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

24. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
80% / ~$100
Students savings when open
textbooks used in place of
traditional
http://www.studentpirgs.org/reports/cover-cover-solution
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

25. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Studies show that the use of
open textbooks is correlated with
higher grades and retention rates
http://www.eurodl.org/?p=current&article=533
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680513.2012.716657
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1523
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

26. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
THE PROBLEM
IMPACT ON
STUDENTS
OER AS A
SOLUTION
ACTION
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

27. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
What Needs to Happen
• More “turn key” open textbooks: create new
and improve existing
• More support for adoption: professional
development, time buyouts…
• More awareness: most people don’t know
what open textbooks are, we need to change
that
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

28. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
POLICY
• Resources to fund OER development and
adoption
• Open licensing requirements for grants
• Endorsement and call for action for OER
• Remove existing policy barriers
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

29. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
BC Open Textbooks
(2012)
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

30. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
CA Grant Policy (2013)
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

31. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
FHDA Policy (2004)
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

32. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
CAMPUS ADVOCACY
• Students: the most effective advocates to
raise awareness of the problem
• Libraries: increasing interest in supporting
both creation and adoption
• Institutions: leveraging OER to increase
outcomes, competitiveness
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

33. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Student PIRGs Faculty
Outreach
Faculty Outreach Toolkit
Affordable Textbooks Campaign
In this toolkit:
Overview: What Can Faculty Do to Help?
Planning Faculty Outreach
Faculty Outreach: How To
·
·
·
Individual Meetings
E-Mails
Presentations
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

34. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Student PIRGs
Awareness
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

35. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Textbook Catalog
In an effort to reduce costs for students, the College of Education and Human
Development has created this catalog of open textbooks to be reviewed by faculty
members. Read full press release
Open textbooks are complete textbooks released under a Creative Commons, or
similar, license.
Instructors can customize open textbooks to fit their course needs by
remixing, editing, and adding their own content. Students can access free digital
versions or purchase low-cost print copies of open textbooks.
http://guides.library.umass.edu/content.php?pid=87648&sid=1714807
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

36. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Textbook Catalog
In an effort to reduce costs for students, the College of Education and Human
Development has created this catalog of open textbooks to be reviewed by faculty
members. Read full press release
Open textbooks are complete textbooks released under a Creative Commons, or
similar, license.
Instructors can customize open textbooks to fit their course needs by
remixing, editing, and adding their own content. Students can access free digital
versions or purchase low-cost print copies of open textbooks.
http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

37. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open Textbook Catalog
In an effort to reduce costs for students, the College of Education and Human
Development has created this catalog of open textbooks to be reviewed by faculty
members. Read full press release
In an effort to reduce costs for students, the College of Education and Human
Open textbooks are complete catalog of open textbooks to be reviewed by
Development has created this textbooks released under a Creative Commons, or
faculty members. Read full press similar, license.
release
Open textbooks are complete textbooks released under a Creative Commons, or
Instructors can customize open textbooks to fit their course needs by
similar, license. and adding their own content. Students can access free digital
remixing, editing,
Instructorsversions or purchase low-cost printfit their course needs by
can customize open textbooks to copies of open textbooks.
remixing, editing, and adding their own content. Students can access free digital
versions or purchase low-cost print copies of open textbooks.
http://open.umn.edu/
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

38. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
TCC Textbook-Free
Degree
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

39. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Open textbooks can
happen, but we need
to make them
happen
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org

40. Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
www.sparc.arl.org
Nicole Allen
nicole@sparc.arl.org
@txtbks
Sign up for more info:
http://sparc.arl.org/issues/o
er/join
Open Educational Resources Program
nicole@sparc.arl.org