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 University
Graduate School of Science and Technology
(Prof. Tsuyoshi Usagawa)
Outline
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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:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Uthah Open Textbook Project (2010)…secondary level textbooks
Openstaxcollege (Connexions at Rice University)
Saylor
Flat World Knowledge? …used to be free…now $20 charge for online StudyPass
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, 2013
bccampus.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 custombuilt 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?
Definitions
Open 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.
OER
Educational 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
Non-contributors*
Practical significance
 Open textbook on generic research methods
 ‘How to do’ guidelines and design principles
 Customized PDF reader to track online and offline user behavior on PDF
documents
 Professional Development
Scientific significance
 The 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.
Theoretical frameworks
RQ1.
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 frameworks
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?
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
 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.
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.
Theoretical frameworks
RQ3.
What factors influence students and teachers adoption of custombuilt 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).
Methodology
Phase 1: Analysis and Exploration
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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
Methodology
Teacher Survey
Aim and objectives
The 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.
Methodology
36 Responses as of yesterday
Methodology
Student Textbook Survey
Aim and objectives
The 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.
Methodology
1035 Responses as of yesterday
Conclusion
 Major Challenge
Initial Plan
 Start Development: 3 March, 2014
 First implementation: 21 July, 2014
Now!!
 Start Development: 6 Jan, 2014
 First Implementation: 17 Feb, 2014