I have been receiving feedback from my professor, Dr. Irwin DeVries, who has an extensive background in OER. He has given me some helpful resources and tips to guide me in my journey, including shedding some light in particular with OER textbooks in K-12.
Although I was not planning on going into depth with open textbooks, it may be a side journey that is beneficial to pursue. Currently in my practice, the available Social Studies texts are from 1999; these resources are considerably out of date, especially in regard to the new, updated curriculum that has been recently implemented in British Columbia (Government of B.C, 2020). Budgets have always been a concern in education, and it would require substantial funds to replace over 100 outdated textbooks (BC Teachers Federation, 2022). Here is where open textbooks could make a difference.
From an initial search into this topic, I discovered that open textbooks, particularly open/adapted texts, were shown to be higher quality than published textbooks (Kimmons, 2015). In a student survey of grade 6-9 students using open science textbooks, an overwhelming majority stated they were more engaged than with traditional textbooks, and over half the participants listed benefits such as being able to highlight the text and more understandable explanations (Morales & Baker, 2018). A brief search for “open textbooks B.C” revealed a site called BC Open Campus and BC Open Collection, a subsidiary of BC Open Campus. The latter of these sites has materials that educators are able to adapt and remix, although most of these materials seem to be geared towards post-secondary education (BC Open Collection, n.d.).
This seems to be the case when I am conducting research; there are a plethora of helpful OER, but the ones I have found are tailored for post-secondary education.
For my next update, I will mention some of the barriers I have found with OER and grade school education.
References
BC Open Collection. (n.d.). https://collection.bccampus.ca/
Government of B.C. (2020). How we changed B.C’s curriculum. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/changing-curriculum
BC Teachers Federation. (2022). BCTF education funding brief 2023: Funding inclusive and flourishing schools. https://www.bctf.ca/docs/default-source/briefs-and-submissions/education-funding-briefs/bctf-education-funding-brief-2023.pdf?sfvrsn=c8cf71d2_2.
intheacademia. (2012, June 6). The OERs – Open Educational Resources [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xGRztrWv-k
Kimmons, R. (2015). Oer quality and adaptation in k-12: Comparing teacher evaluations of copyright-restricted, open, and open/adapted textbooks. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i5.2341
Liao, Y-C. J. (n.d.). Open educational resources. The K-12 Educational technology handbook. Retrieved May 11, 2023, from https://edtechbooks.org/k12handbook/oer
Morales, R., & Baker, A. (2018). Secondary students’ perceptions of open science textbooks. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2018(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.455
Hi Terry,
Thanks for sharing your blog post! You have brought up an interesting point about updating the old textbooks. In your research, did you find information on how the materials in OER are being updated? I’m just wondering the probability of learners reading the latest version of materials in an OER course. I am curious about this aspect because I found the online learning materials were not often the most updated at my workplace, which can be quite frustrating. Also, do you have a couple examples of ‘high quality’ open textbooks?
Thanks so much!
Megan
Thanks for your question Megan,
As of yet, I have not found any materials regarding the updating process for OER materials, although I have not been actively seeking out this area, per se. Resource quality has been addressed mostly in the currency of materials, not so much in the upkeep. I’ll alter my searches and see what comes up!
As for examples of high-quality open texts, BC Campus has some great resources, including how to adapt open texts–
https://open.bccampus.ca/browse-our-collection/
I have also been perusing the OER Commons site and have found several materials relevant to my teaching area
https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/open-textbooks
Great questions – There are many high-quality open textbooks, as determined by research, peer reviews and longevity in use. A plethora of articles can be found in a literature search. Just a few examples from one journal:
Jhangiani, R. S., & Jhangiani, S. (2017). Investigating the Perceptions, Use, and Impact of Open Textbooks: A survey of Post-Secondary Students in British Columbia. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.3012
Hendricks, C., Reinsberg, S. A., & Rieger, G. W. (2017). The Adoption of an Open Textbook in a Large Physics Course: An Analysis of Cost, Outcomes, Use, and Perceptions. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.3006
Fischer, L., Ernst, D., & Mason, S. L. (2017). Rating the Quality of Open Textbooks: How Reviewer and Text Characteristics Predict Ratings. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i4.2985
The question of maintenance and updating is also an important one, and the funded projects tend to maintain them on a periodic basis. As for the wider collection…hard to say and if anyone hears of anything, please let me know!
Hi Terry, thanks for the great information. I would have never thought that an open textbook would be of better quality than a physical textbook. In our MALAT program, I am always using online resources, but this concept of the open textbook and being less resource heavy in terms of budgets would be a great thing, especially for k-12 where it seems that the students are getting a bit short-changed in this area. Where the budgets keep getting cut, this may be a great option to ensure learners are getting the best experience as well as quality information. I’d be interested in looking at this topic further? I’m wondering what impact OER’s would have on K-12 and are they not using OER’s now? Thanks for spurring my curiosity! I’m wondering how much more of an impact AI will have on K-12 students who may not come with the same self-efficacy and past experiences to determine how they may engage with AI and what may be deemed “Appropriate Use”.
Hi Andrea,
Due to the lack of research, implications for student learning in K-12 are difficult to ascertain. With the growing interest in OER, I am hopeful that more articles, reviews, and research in K-12 will become available.
As for teachers using OER in the classroom, that is also difficult to assess. OER encompasses many resources, including videos, open texts, and even lecture notes, but true OER allows users to reuse and adapt as necessary (UNESCO, n.d.). I know of teachers, including myself, using YouTube videos and sites like TeachersPayTeachers, but these resources typically do not follow the same ‘openness’ as UNESCO’s (n.d.) definition of OER in that they have limits regarding redistribution and/or adaptations.
Thanks for your query!
References
UNESCO. (n.d.). Open educational resources. https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources#:~:text=Open%20Educational%20Resources%20(OER)%20are,adaptation%20and%20redistribution%20by%20others.
Hi Terry,
Thank you for sharing your work. You have selected topical and relevant questions for your context. I see many teachers jumping into using educational technology without providing students with a roadmap for safe use and well-being, so I appreciate your care in considering OERs in your teaching context. Your post recognizes that technology is not a neutral tool but rather a product of social construction and negotiation influenced by its context (Selwyn, 2010). Henderson and Ostashewski (2018) claimed that barriers to OER are widely documented, the most common barriers are:
• limited understanding of copyright law and open licensing initiatives,
• limited quality or perceived quality,
• difficulty finding or accessing relevant material, and
• resistance of educator participation in OER use and creation.
BC Campus provides support for creating OERs. Are thinking about working with your k-12 colleagues to create your own textbook? Do you think you could have students be part of creating their own textbook?
Thanks for your comments, Jessica.
The ‘dream’ is to co-create textbooks with colleagues or students, but the reality seems to be far from this. As Selwyn (2010) articulates, articles and research do not often look at the realities of educational technology in real-world settings. For the reasons you stated previously, teachers seem hesitant to create materials that are shareable.
Another significant barrier to creating open texts is time; K-12 teachers have expressed concerns about the time requirements for creating resources, assessment, and quality assurance purposes (Kopcha, 2012). Many also feel they lack the necessary skills to create such resources (Tang & Bao, 2021).
To put it simply, it’s complicated! I am hoping that OER will continue to gain momentum in K-12 classrooms, which will hopefully lead to more resources and research. I will be doing my part and helping spread the benefits (and barriers) of OER in my school by offering information sessions during professional development days.
References
Kopcha, T. J. (2012). Teachers’ perceptions of the barriers to technology integration and practices with technology under situated professional development. Computers & Education, 59(4), 1109–1121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.05.014
Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: Notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x
Tang, H., & Bao, Y. (2021). Latent class analysis of k-12 teachers’ barriers to implementing oer. Distance Education, 42(4), 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2021.1986371