Exploring OER derived digital open textbook design, development, and dissemination processes and the impacts of OER derived digital open textbook use on learning and teaching practices

Deepak Prasad

Kumamoto UniversityGraduate School of Science and Technology(Prof. Tsuyoshi Usagawa)

Outline

Problem definition Purpose Research questions Significance Theoretical framework Methodology Conclusion

Problem definition

Proprietary Textbooks = Financial Burden + Pandora’s Box

Problem definition

PROPRIETARY TEXTBOOKS• Copyright violation – photocopying

whole textbook, chapters• Can not be used simultaneously –

one user at a time• Delays – out of stock textbooks,

queuing in bookshops• More than 1 required textbook per

course• Can not afford textbooks:

• Take fewer courses• Withdraw from courses• Drop courses• Poor grades• Fail• High attrition

PANDORA’S BOX

Problem definition

Instead of assigning proprietary textbooks in courses, experts are recommending faculty members to create open custom-built textbooks that meet their course needs (Wiley, Green, & Soares, 2012; Eppelin & Böttcherb, 2011).

Problem definition

However Despite numerous OER-based projects and the obvious advantages of OER,

many educational institutions to date do not seem to be using OER on a mass scale (Dorp & Lane, 2011; Umar, Kodhandaraman & Kanwar, 2013).

OER have not been impacting education as much as they could because the open education community has been too busy developing materials and writing hype articles about their potential impact (Wiley, 2013).

“The focus of current, well-known OER initiatives is on creation and publication of OERs. Use and reuse are still somewhat underrepresented” (Ehlers, 2011).

Papachristou and Samoff (2012) asset that, throughout the literature with very few exceptions, there are “enthusiastic endorsements of open educational resources, often with little or no attention to the practical issues and problems that arise from actual use” (p.2).

Problem definition

However Kanwar (2011) argues that there is too much focus on OER products and there

is too little on processes. She explicitly states that “most of the available literature on OER focuses on production”.

Kanwar also probes as to “how do we move to next level and promote actual use and reuse?”

Production of an OER involves licenses, software applications (store, search, distribute, …), processes (design, development, …) and resulting content (full courses and course components such as learning objects, labs, textbooks, manuals, animations, simulations, and videos).

In production of OER individuals may not necessarily deal with the 4Rs

Problem definition

Some open textbook projects: 1. Uthah Open Textbook Project (2010)…secondary level textbooks2. Openstaxcollege (Connexions at Rice University)3. Saylor4. Flat World Knowledge? …used to be free…now $20 charge for online StudyPass5. British Columbia Open Textbook Project (2012)…BCcampus

• Focus on only one collection of OER: For example, UOTP based on CK12 materials

• Additional research should examine other collections of OER in general (Hilton III, Wiley, Lutz; 2012)

BCcampus, 2013bccampus.ca/open-textbooks-101/open-textbook-faq/#10

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore OER reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute processes for designing, developing, and disseminating OER derived digital open textbooks through designing, developing, and disseminating a custom-built OER derived digital open textbook to replace two commercial prescribed textbooks in a postgraduate generic research methods course and then to evaluate the pedagogical impacts and adoption factors of OER derived digital open textbook use on students and teachers at the University of the South Pacific.

Research questions

RQ1. What are the OER reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute processes for designing, developing, and disseminating custom-built OER derived digital open textbooks?

RQ2. What are the impacts of custom-built OER derived digital open textbook use on learning and teaching practices in comparison to traditional proprietary textbooks use?

RQ3. What factors influence students and teachers adoption of custom-built OER derived digital open textbook?

DefinitionsOpen textbooks are freely accessible digital textbooks that can be read online, self-printed or downloaded via any computer with Internet access at no or no cost. In addition, students may often be able to order a commercial “print on demand” copy of an open textbook at a modest cost.

OEREducational materials in the public domain, or released with an open-license allowing free use, adaptation, and sharing, OERs provide a strategic opportunity to increase access to, and the quality of education. (UNESCO, 2012)

Reuse – you can reuse the content in its unaltered / verbatim form.

Revise – you can adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself.

Remix – you can combine the original or revised content with other content to create something new.

Redistribute – you can make and share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others.

Significance

Practical significance Open textbook on generic research methods‘How to do’ guidelines and design principlesCustomized PDF reader to track online and offline user behavior on PDF documentsProfessional Development

Scientific significanceThe theoretical insights into the OER reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute processes for developing and disseminating OER derived digital open textbook generated from this study can be used as a building block to create new design principles for future OER-based open textbooks initiatives.

Non-contributors*

Theoretical frameworksRQ1. What are the OER reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute

processes for developing and disseminating custom-built OER derived digital open textbooks?

Course Planning Model – Posner and Rudnisky (2005)

Theoretical frameworksRQ2. What are the impacts of custom-built OER derived digital open textbook use on learning and teaching practices in comparison to traditional proprietary textbooks use?

1. COUP framework (Bliss, Robinson, Hilton and Wiley; 2013) Impacts on Cost, impact on Outcomes, Use patterns, and

Perceptions of the quality of open textbook

2. Google Analytics + Learning Analytics* Develop customized PDF reader to link with Google Analytics: to

determine use patterns (frequency & recurrence) and interaction (annotation) with open textbook.

Teachers and students will be asked to compare the cost, quality and patterns of use of their open textbook to what they normally experienced with traditional textbooks.

In addition, teachers will be asked about the impact of the open textbook adoption on their own preparation time and pedagogy and on their students' preparedness and engagement.

Theoretical frameworks RQ3. What factors influence students and teachers adoption of custom-built OER derived digital open textbook?

Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) Theory (Rogers, 1962)

The diffusion of innovations theory seeks to explain how and why new ideas and practices are adopted, with timelines potentially spread out over long periods.

Adoption means that a person does something differently than what they had previously (i.e., purchase or use a new product, acquire and perform a new behavior, etc.)

Methodology

Four-phased design research model (Reeves, 2006).

MethodologyPhase 1: Analysis and Exploration

SWOT Analysis (8 teachers involved in the project) Teacher Survey (other teachers) Student Survey PDF Reader (Okular)

Phase 2: Design and Development of textbook

Phase 3: Implement and evaluate custom built OER derived digital textbook

First iteration (Semester 1 – 17 Feb,2014) Second iteration (Semester 2 – 21 July, 2014)

Phase 4: Develop design principles and guideline s

MethodologyTeacher Survey

Aim and objectivesThe three primary aims of this survey are to assess the volume of required commercial textbooks assigned by University of the South Pacific (USP) instructors in semester 2, 2013; their awareness and use of open educational resources (OER) and open textbooks; and their willingness to develop custom-built OER derived open textbooks for their courses. These aims target the following specific objectives:

To determine the frequency with which teachers assign more than one required commercial textbook per course;

To compare the volume of required commercial textbooks in undergraduate courses to postgraduate courses in semester 2, 2013;

To determine level of use of OER at USP; and

To identify issues relating to the use of OER at USP.

Methodology36 Responses as of yesterday

MethodologyStudent Textbook Survey

Aim and objectivesThe primary aim of this study is to undertake a survey and analysis of the willingness of University of the South Pacific (USP) students to use custom-built open textbooks, factors contributing to and/or hindering students’ preferences towards custom-built open textbook adoption, and investigation of measures taken by students to reduce textbook costs. This aim further involves the following specific objectives:

To determine the amount USP students spent on textbooks during semester 2, 2013;To determine the percentage of textbook expenses covered by scholarship;To investigate students’ textbook acquisition choices;To determine the impact of textbook expenses on students;To rank students’ perceptions of those digital textbook features that would encourage their adoption in future;To identify factors that hinder students’ adoption of custom-built open textbook in future;To determine the frequency with which students are required to buy textbooks including little material related to their courses.

Methodology1035 Responses as of yesterday

Conclusion

Major Challenge

Initial PlanStart Development: 3 March, 2014First implementation: 21 July, 2014

Now!!Start Development: 6 Jan, 2014First Implementation: 17 Feb, 2014