the open textbook network: libraries working together to advance open textbooks

The Open Textbook Network: Libraries Working Together to

Advance Open Textbooks

Sarah Faye Cohen

Managing DirectorOpen Textbook NetworkCenter for Open Education University of Minnesota

This morning…

• What is the Open Textbook Library?• Why open textbooks?• Why a network?• Where are we headed?

What are the barriers that keep faculty from adopting open textbooks?

http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/openingthecurriculum2014.pdf

When it comes to OER, faculty:a) Don’t know where to find them,b) Don’t know if they are any good.

That’s where

we come in.

178 books204 reviews

open.umn.edu: a catalog of complete, openly licensed textbooks.

Textbooks that are reviewed by faculty, for faculty.

WHY ARE WE TALKING ONLY ABOUT OPEN TEXTBOOKS AND NOT OER MORE GENERALLY?

Open textbooks are one type of OER that faculty understand.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timuiuc/4232485465

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+

39%Adoption rate of workshop attendees

(14% - 65%)

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Oregon Community

College Distance Learning

Association

Oregon Community

College Distance Learning

Association

20 members

76 institutions

…and growing.

What are the barriers that keep faculty from adopting open textbooks?

How can we help other institutions build local sustainable open textbook

programs?

Oregon Community

College Distance Learning

Association

Bring OTN institutions together to: 1. enhance open textbook program

development across OTN members,

2. envision the future of OTN with our members, and

3. strengthen presentation capacity for future open textbook workshops.

Open Textbook Network Summer Institute

Develop new strategies to scale

Focus on evidence of impact

https://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/12996688414/

Open Textbook Research Fellows

• 5 faculty each year• 3 days working with the Open Ed Group (

http://openedgroup.org) to design research to deepen our understanding of the efficacy of open textbooks.

• Sample research questions might be:– What happens to student learning outcomes when open

textbooks replace commercial textbooks?– What are the perceptions of professors and students regarding

the OER utilized in their classrooms?– Does there seem to be any difference in student learning

outcomes when professors actively exercise 5R permissions with the OER?

What can you do?• Learn

– About open textbooks. And what books are available for what disciplines.

– #opentextbooks #textbookbroke or #OER on Twitter. • Share

– Open Textbooks as an option for faculty– Suggestions for additions to the Open Textbook Library– What you learn with peers, partners, and colleagues.

• Support– Exploration and adoption of open textbooks.– Interest in creating open textbooks or supplemental materials.

• Join – sparc-liboer@arl.org to participate in discussions about libraries and

OER– The Open Textbook Network

Thank you.

sfcohen@umn.edu@thesheck

Library: open.umn.eduNetwork: z.umn.edu/opentextbooks