This document provides an overview of open textbooks and the BC Open Textbook Project. It discusses the high costs of traditional textbooks and how open textbooks can help by being available online for free or at low cost. The project aims to increase the use of open textbooks in BC by facilitating their creation and adoption. Faculty are involved in reviewing, adapting and creating new open textbooks through sprints and other activities. Initial results show the project has helped save students over half a million dollars in textbook costs so far.

1. BC Open
Textbook Project
Clint Lalonde, BCcampus
TRU-OLFM
May 9, 2015

2. 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.

3. Okay, textbook cost & why it is important

4. 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…

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

6. 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)

7. Principal/Agent Problem

8. “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

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

10. Start talking about cost

11. But it is about more than just debt

12. There are pedagogical implications
to high textbook costs

13. How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014

14. How students battled textbook publishers to a draw, Planet Money, NPR, Oct 9, 2014
What is going on here?

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.”

18. “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

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

20. “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?

21. 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

22. Open textbooks can help

23. 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.

24. 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.

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

26. 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

27. 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

28. “Many students attending HCC have difficulty with the cost of
college. Some students do not purchase books at all; other
students use outdated editions or non-assigned books.
In addition, the cost of textbooks may prevent students from
taking an optimal course load. A reduced course load means
more years in college and reduces the likelihood of
completion.
For these reasons, faculty were concerned that the cost of
textbooks was interfering with student success.
A faculty committee, with the support of administration,
decided to make cost a primary consideration in the textbook
adoption process.”
Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:
The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012

29. Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:
The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012
“A group of six full-time and six adjunct HCC psychology faculty
members participated in the adaptation of FWK’s Introduction
to Psychology textbook.
The adaptation was necessary in order to lower the reading
level to one that the faculty felt was appropriate for HCC
students (12th grade) and to incorporate additional learning
objectives and key terms that they had identified as being
essential to the course.
Additional video links, relevant examples, and cross-cultural
information were also added to the text.”

30. Source: One college’s use of an open psychology textbook, John Hilton III, Carol Laman, Open Learning:
The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Volume 27, Issue 3, 2012
Spring 2011, Traditional
Textbook (n = ~370
students)
Fall 2012, open Textbook
(n = ~370 students)
GPA 1.6 2.0
Withdrawl Rate 14% 7.1%
Department Final
Exam
67.6% 71.1%
Table 1. Aggregated data, spring 2011 (traditional text) versus fall 2011 free text:
multiple campuses and instructors.

31. The Project

32. open.bccampus.ca

33. 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

34. Faculty Reviews ($250)
291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

35. Reviews > Adaptations
My Adventures Adapting a Chemistry Textbook291/365 by thebarrowboy used under a CC-BY

36. New Creations

37. OTsummit.bccampus.ca

38. Sprints

39. Sprints
2 Days
17 Psych Faculty
6 Institutions
850 Questions

40. Sprints

41. Results
Year Faculty Sections Students Savings
2013 12 18 553 $55,300 - $84,560
2014 42 78 2630 $263,000 - $367,896
2015
(Jan-April)
33 73 2224 $222,400 - $252,285
Total 87 169 5407 $540,700 - $713,921

42. open.bccampus.ca