OpenEducationalResources

Alternatives to Textbooks

Susan DeanDe Anza College

December 13, 2008

http://faculty.deanza.edu/deansusan

http://www.studentpirgs.orghttp://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org

For prospective students, the first test is often their ability to afford the textbooks.

The Problem: College textbooks are too

expensive

• Students spend an average of $900 a year on textbooks.

• For students already trying to finance

college, the cost of textbooks often forces the student to either go into debt, accept an inferior academic experience, or to drop out.

What areOpen Educational Resources?

• High quality educational content and tools

• Freely available from the internet, anytime, anywhere

• All languages

• Shared

• Usable and re-usable

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Faculty Respondents

Interested

Aware

Using

Would Use

Would Help

OER Survey

OER Tutorial: http://cnx.org/content/col10413/latest/(Access cnx.org; find content by author Judy Baker)

Benefits of OER

Lowers the costs of educational

materialsfor students

Benefits of OER

Fosters pedagogical innovation

and relevance that avoids

“teaching from the textbook”

Benefits of OER

Gives faculty tools to gain control over

learning content and delivery.

Benefits of OER•Share and remix learning materials for customized and localized use

•Fast feedback loop on quality and relevance of learning materials => continual improvement and rapid development

Statistics Open TextbookNow Available at Connexions

http://cnx.org/

Collaborative Statistics

by Barbara Illowsky and Susan Dean

•Rupi Sekhon wrote a Finite Math book that several sections of Math 11 at De Anza use. The course transfers to UC and CSU.  Available at http://faculty.deanza.edu/sekhonrupinder/stories/storyReader$8

•You can download or view a copy of Burzynski & Elllis' "Elementary Algebra" for viewers at - http://www.box.net/signup/collablink/d_21592010/3b648f2c3b5e4

•You can download or view a copy of Burzynski & Elllis' "Fundamentals of Mathematics" at - http://www.box.net/signup/collablink/d_21592228/32a9c44c04524

•John Redden has an "Elementary Algebra: Solving Linear Equations in One Variable" module posted to Connexions at - http://cnx.org/content/m18033/1.1/

Other Examples

Challenges• Articulation and

transfer issues

• Compliance with accessibility (ADA) requirements

• Printing and computer lab demands on campus by students

• Coordination with campus bookstores

OER Resources and Tools• Tools for locating, organizing, and delivering • Tools for collaboration and development • Discipline-specific sources • Open courseware

Tools for Locating, Organizing,and Delivering OER

Tools for Collaborationand Development

Discipline-specific Sources

Community College Consortiumfor Open Educational Resources

Joint effort to develop and use open educational resources and open textbooks

in community college courses

cccoer.wordpress.com

1: Develops and expands the Community College Consortium for OER toward sustainability

2: Has a website that houses current information about high-quality Open Textbooks appropriate for community college instruction including

•development•identification •standards •criteria (articulation, accessibility, interoperability, and cultural relevance)•Links to sites (like CNX) and to textbooks

cccoer.wordpress.com

www.collegeopentextbooks.org

Discover…

Customize…

Adopt…

Learn how to use Connexions as your toolkitto discover, customize, and adopt open textbooks.

Complete Booklet PDF   Text         Get Account PDF Video TextLogin PDF Video Text Set Password PDF Video TextMaintain Account PDF Video Text         Search Connexions PDF Video TextUse Materials PDF Video Text         Check Out Materials PDF Video TextEdit Materials PDF Video TextPublish Materials PDF Video TextUpdate Collections PDF Video TextPublish Collections PDF Video Text      Getting Textbooks PDF Video Text

Disseminate Open Textbooks– Digital formats

– Printed format

– Student (DIY)

– Campus bookstore

– Campus printshop services

– Proprietary services

Faculty Role

• Encourage faculty to develop, locate, review, and and promote OER

– Support sabbaticals for development and modification of open textbooks

– Give credit toward tenure for faculty work on open textbook development

Project Partners

83 colleges

from AZ, C

A,

MD, NY, W

A,

NV, Ontario

…

AB 2261 by Ira Ruskin

• Section 1 (b) states that “Community colleges need to take greater advantage of open education resources, especially for basic skills and general education classes, including, but not limited to, algebra, that use course content that remains generally unchanged over time.”

• http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2251-2300/ab_2261_bill_20080930_chaptered.pdf

Creative Commons and ccLearn

“ccLearn is a division of Creative Commons dedicated to support open learning and open educational resources. Our mission is to minimize barriers to the creation, sharing, and reuse of educational materials—legal barriers, technical barriers, and social barriers.”

http://learn.creativecommons.org/