This document discusses the potential for open educational resources (OER) and open textbooks. It notes that digital technologies allow knowledge to be shared more freely and globally. However, challenges include resistance to change and ensuring accessibility. The document outlines how librarians can help locate, evaluate, customize and disseminate open textbooks to reduce costs for students. It argues that embracing openness is important for the future of higher education.

1. Rethinking How & Where Digital
Knowledge is
Stored, Shared, Tagged and
Licensed in the 21st Century: New
Role for Librarians?
Cable Green
eLearning Director

2. “We are in the midst of a
technological, economic, and
organizational transformation that
allows us to negotiate the terms of
freedom, justice, and productivity in
the information society”
Yochai Benkler
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonewolf23/1570632701/

3. Yes… We Really are Networked…
 seamless connection of
people, resources &
knowledge
 digitization of content
 mobile, personal
 global platform for
collaboration
 outsourcing
 Anyone notice our
global economy?

4. quot;According to an IBM study, by
2010, the amount of digital
information in the world will
double every 11 hours.quot;

5. Librarians get public and
educational data out into the
open where we can
visualize it, manipulate it,
and learn with it.

6. And we can make
all of our
“digital stuff”
available to
all people…
and most of it
will get used...
by someone.

7. “Long Tail” of Publishing
$
long tail
Harry Hyper-geometric
Potter partial differential
equations

8. Librarians are information
literacy experts who will
help us find the “good stuff.”
And information management
gurus – how do we store,
find, search?

9. In a flat world, the
artists, the
synthesizers of
ideas will rule.
And they will use
web 2.0 software
standards, and
practices to
distribute their
ideas.

10. Librarians are, and always
have been, synthesizers of
instructional resource
solutions.

11. We All Get to Participate
http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/ComingApart

13. - JSB

14. Think Big Crazy Ideas….
 We could share all of our instructional digital
resources including: courses, textbooks and
library resources with the world… and, more
important, use global digital materials.
 We could use common integrated library
systems, support services, and a common set
of library databases.
 We could design courses that enable and
encourage students to contribute, change,
remix course content.

15.  “Welcome back to humanity. Some
technologies take us away from ourselves
and others bring us back. Web 2.0 is
helping us rediscover our naturally
cooperative, creative, and gregarious
nature.
 Don't think, therefore, of Web 2.0 as
something foreign or hyped-up or all about
geeks; Web 2.0 is the rebirth of teaching
and learning that fits what we are as a
species.”
Why is Web 2.0 Important to Higher Education?

16. RSS

17. Social Bookmarking
http://delicious.com/geoffcain/oer

19. Share Photos
http://www.flickr.com

21. Why is “Open” Important?
 Because when we cooperate and share, we
all win – exponentially.
 Reedʼs Law:Networks grow [in value]
exponentially by the number of nodes.
 It’s a social justice issue: everyone has
the right to access global knowledge.
Institute for the Future whitepaper: Technologies of Cooperation

22. Definition of OER
 Digitized
materials, offered
freely and openly for
educators, students, to use
and re-use for teaching,
learning and research.

23. The Old Economics
Print, wareho
use, and ship
a new book
for every
student
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmediamuseum/2780164461/

24. The New Economics
Upload one
copy, and everyone
uses it
simultaneously
Making
copies, storage, distri
bution of digital stuff
= “Free”
http://cnx.org/content/col10522/latest/

25. software
textbooks
music

26. Textbook 2.0
modular
authored by community
continuously updated
personalized on
assembly
never out-of-print
published on demand
low cost
ex: 600-page textbook for
$32, not $132

27. (a few) Open Content Repositories
 OpenLearn (UK) - DEMO
 OCW – MIT (MIT HS)
 China Open Resources for Education has
translated 109 MIT OCW courses into Simplified
Chinese.
 Rice Connexions

28. and there is this small
collection of articles:

29. Why do we Need Open Textbooks?
 2005 GAO report: College textbook
prices have risen at twice the rate
of annual inflation over the last two
decades
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05806.pdf

30. Why do we Need Open Textbooks?
 The College Board reported that for
the 2007 through 2008 academic
years each student spent an
estimated $805 to $1,229 on
college books and supplies…
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_pricing_07.pdf

31. Why do we Need Open Textbooks?
 The gross margin on new college
textbooks is currently 22.7
percent according to the National
Association of College Stores.
 Products available in college stores are sold with
a margin, as in any retail operation. Margin is the
difference between cost and retail price, reflecting
work required to bring products to market.
http://www.nacs.org/public/research/margins.asp

32. May, 2007: Dept of Ed.

34. http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/course_correction.pdf

35. Community College Consortium
for Open Educational Resources
Joint effort to develop and use open
educational resources and open textbooks
in community college courses
cccoer.wordpress.com

36. Community College
Open Textbook Project Goal
Identify, organize, and support the production and use
of high quality, accessible and culturally relevant Open
Textbooks for community college students
Reduce the
cost of
textbooks!

37. Why so urgent?
 Consider One High
Enrollment Course:
 English Composition I
 37,226 enrollments / year
 X $100 textbook
 = $3.7 Million + (cost to
students)
 What if we looked at
100, 200, 300 high enrollment
courses?
http://rtnl.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/thinker21.jpg

38. Challenges
 Faculty and student
resistance to
change
 Limited availability
of high quality and
comprehensive
learning materials
in some disciplines
 Inadequate access
to high-speed
Internet by
students

39. Challenges
 Compliance with
accessibility
requirements
 Printing and
computer lab
demands on
campus
by students
 Coordination with
campus bookstores

40. Open Textbook Adoption
 Locate open textbooks for consideration
 Evaluate each textbook for selection
 Customize, remix, and
organize selected
textbook
 Disseminate in print
and digital formats
http://emharrington.com/rex/images/adoptadog/Adopt_Me.jpg

41. Locate Open Textbooks
for Consideration
 MERLOT
 Connexions
 Wikibooks
 OER Commons
 Global Text Project
http://rtnl.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/thinker21.jpg

42. Evaluate Each Textbook
 Quality
 Accessibility
 Cultural relevance
 Currency
 Authority of Source
 Reading level
 Depth and scope
 Quality and
Accuracy
 Articulation

43. Customize, Remix, and Organize

44. Disseminate Open Textbooks
 Digital formats
 Printed format
 Campus bookstore
 Campus print-shop services
 Proprietary services
http://images.lexcycle.com/screenshots/feedbooks_library.jpg

46. http://therawfeed.com/pix/the_raw_feed_on_kindle-BIG.jp

47. Librarians can help find and
weave open textbooks into
courses … working with
faculty (resource based
instructional design, yes?)

48.  13 (b) Faculty and staff members consider the
least costly practices in assigning course
materials, such as adopting the least expensive
edition available, adopting free, open textbooks
when available, and working with college
librarians to put together collections of free
online web and library resources, when
educational content is comparable as
determined by the faculty

49. Bookstores Future Role?
 Bookstores are perfectly positioned to be the
College’s clearinghouse for printed open
educational resources.
 print-on-demand open textbooks & OER course
packs
 Students want printed options (Course
Correction)
 Have location and are tightly networked into
IT and fiscal campus operations.
 e.g., students can use fin aid @ bookstores 49

50. Are there really Open
Educational
Resources (e.g.,
Open Textbooks) on
the web?
50

51. Librarians are experts in
melding open educational
resources with traditional
publisher copyrighted
resources.

52. Hey Higher Ed!
 We must get rid of our “not invented
here” attitude regarding others’ content
 move to: quot;proudly borrowed from therequot;
 Content is not a strategic advantage
 Nor can we (or our students) afford it

53. Future of Openness in Education
 “As uncomfortable a proposition as this
new openness may be for some, I
believe it is the future of higher
education.”
In web 2.0, everything is public
& higher education needs to
get used to it.
David Wiley 2006. Open source, openness, and higher education.

54. What Happens if we
Don’t Change?
Functional Possibilities
Higher Education
Time

55. How is the fiscal health
of your local newspaper?
55

56. Choices:
(1) Open up and
leverage global input
OR
(2) close up shop

57. Near Term Opportunity
27 (iv) Sharing library resources including but not limited
to: Copyrighted physical and e-books, and consolidated
electronic journals and research database licensing and
other models;
30 (v) Methods and open licensing options for effectively
sharing digital content including but not limited to: Open
courseware, open textbooks, open journals, and open
learning objects;

58. http://blog.oer.sbctc.edu
http://blog.elearning.sbctc.edu
Dr. Cable Green
cgreen@sbctc.edu
(360) 704-4334
Twitter: cgreen