Affordable Course Content and Open Educational Resources

SPEC SurveyWebcast SeriesAugust 17, 2016

Introductions

2 #ARLSPECKit351

Association of Research Libraries

Kristi Jensen Joseph A. Salem, Jr.

Anita Walz

Roadmap and Definitions

Affordable course content (ACC): low cost, no cost (includes library-subscribed content or low direct cost to students)

Open educational resources (OER): freely available AND either in the public domain or licensed to allow modification and redistribution(Hewlett Foundation definition: http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education/open-educational-resources)

Why This Topic and Approach?

• What Libraries are doing• OER, Library licensed, and more• Collaboration on initiative development• Provide useful data for planning these initiatives

Survey Distribution and Responses

• Sent to 124 ARL member libraries March 2016• 65 responses• 46 have or are planning an ACC/OER initiative• 12 more plan to investigate an ACC/OER initiative in the near future

Focus on Affordable Course Content and/or OER

• 32 institutions include ACC and OER in their efforts

• 12 institutions are focused on only OER

Leadership and Governance of ACC/OER Initiatives: Library Involvement

• Libraries most often took the lead in originating ACC/OER efforts (64%)

• Libraries were heavily involved in implementing (73%)• Fewer than 40% indicate having a standing committee—but of

those that do—89% include libraries representation

Funding Sources for ACC/OER Initiatives

• Library general operating budgets (51%)• External grants (28%)• Library special project funds (23%)

• 3/4 have funding continuation plans

• Funds predominantly cover faculty incentives or grants (74%)

Faculty Incentive Grants

• 25 institutions offer financial incentives (grants/stipends)• Amount and number vary widely

• 12 reported average grants of $1250 or less (~288 grants)• Five others report grants ranging from $3000 to $15000

• 55% offer instructional design support

Faculty Incentive Grants – Requirements

• Provide course size and textbook cost data – 61%

• Submit project updates – 50%

• ~1/3 require: • application of an open license to new content, • assessment of student learning, • sharing content within their institution, • use of only openly licensed content, • and reporting usage of ACC/OER for a specified number of years

Institutional Policies and Practices – An Area Ripe for Change

• Tenure and Promotion policies do not encourage faculty adoption, adaption or creation of ACC/OER

• 32 (of 33) indicate they have an IP policy specifying rights to original works

• 21 of 33 indicate authors retain rights to curriculum resources

Current Faculty ACC/OER Practices

Thirty institutions reported on the types of resources faculty have adopted, adapted, or created as part of the ACC/OER initiative:

• 80% textbooks• 70% readings or articles • 67% library licensed content • and 63% each videos and websites

At the majority of responding institutions (77%) faculty have created open educational resources.

Assessment Practices

Seventeen institutions have implemented an assessment measure to track impact:

• Student savings (9)• # of students using OER (8)• # of students using ACC (6)

Nineteen institutions plan to assess the impact of ACC/OER.

Library Support Services for ACC/OER

42 institutions provide ACC/OER services:• Copyright/open licensing consultation (>90%)• Searching and finding affordable content (83%)• Local repository hosting OER (81%)• Educating about ACC/OER (70%)• Working with student advocacy groups (70%)• Purchasing add’l materials (60%)• Implement software for OER publishing (43%)• Staff support for publishing OER (36%)

Library Staff Who Support ACC/OER

Home department for ACC/OER staff varies:• Scholarly Communications (83%)• Library Liaisons (73%)• Public Services/Reference (54%)• Teaching and Learning (49%)

# of staff contributing ranged from 1 to 25 with a median of 6

Future Library Roles with ACC/OER

• Leadership to support ACC/OER• Build on partnerships/existing relationships• Advocacy, promotion, awareness raising efforts to change culture

and practice• Discovery and easy access to ACC/OER• Discussions about teaching and learning, tenure/promotion criteria• Publishing/hosting newly created ACC/OER

Future Library Roles with ACC/OER, continued

• Collaborative OER textbook publishing• Sustainable Models for funding ACC/OER efforts• Create robust/standard assessment methods/models

Questions & Discussion

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Thank you!