Eight Patterns of Open Textbook Adoption in British Columbia

Abstract

Since the launch of the BC Open Textbook Project in 2012, the adoption of open textbooks has steadily grown within public post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. An analysis of adoption records over a five-year period reveals that open textbooks have been adopted across all types of institutions, including research universities, teaching universities, colleges, and institutes, and across a diverse set of disciplines, with the largest numbers in the sciences and social sciences. In this report we identify, describe, and illustrate eight distinct patterns of open textbook adoption. These are: stealth adoption, adoption by infection, committee adoption, sanctioned exceptional adoption, course developer adoption, infection by inter-institutional carrier, creation and adoption, and lone adoption. While these patterns are not intended to be exhaustive, we hope that identifying these patterns provides a useful framework for campus leaders to (a) understand how adoptions occur in their own contexts, (b) identify ways to support further adoptions, (c) recognize that there are multiple ways, and no single path, to supporting the adoption of educational innovations at their institutions, and (d) foster the embrace of wider open educational practices.

Understanding academics' adoption of learning technologies: A systematic review

“…Most notably we call for studies that capture the dynamics of adoption and change processes. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Conceptual Errington (2004) x x x x Johnson (2000) x x Lackie (1999) x x x Maddux& Johnson (2010) x x x Schneckenberg (2009) x x Selwyn (2007) x x Somekh (1998) x x x x Wagner et al (2008) x x x Zhang (2010) x x x Review Alshammari et al (2016) x Dusick (1998) x x x x x x Keller (2005) x Barker et al (2018) x Blackburn 2017x x Blevins & Brill (2017) x x x Blin & Munro (2008) x x x Coskuncay & Ozkan 2013x x x x Drent & Meelissen (2007) x x x x Dutton et al (2004) x x x x x x x Forsyth et al (2010) x x x x Habib & Johannesen (2014) x x x x x x Kenny (2004) x x x x * Kirkup & Kirkwood (2005) x x x x * Lashley et al (2017) x x x Latif (2017) x x x x Nicolle & Luo (2008) x x x Wright (2014) x x x Qualitative Alghanmi (2014) x Annabi & Muller (2016) x Barton (2013) x x x Bell & Bell (2005) x x Birch & Burnett 2009x x x x Bottomley et al (1999) x Brill & Galloway (2007) x Brown (2014) x x x Bryant et al (2014) x Carmichael (2015) x Chitiyo & Harmon (2009) x x x x x De Freitas et al 2012x * Enderle et al (2013) x x x…”

Engaging with open educational practices: Mapping the landscape in Australian higher education

“…However, these international studies offer insights into effective practice and advocacy that can be adapted to the Australian environment or strategically positioned to demonstrate the impact of government-and institutionally supported programmes on the maturation of open practices. For example, the efficacy of zero-cost degrees (Zed-Cred or Zee-Degrees) for student retention and achievement (Barker et al, 2018;Hilton et al, 2016), the effectiveness of library publishing consortia for sustainable open educational resources (OER) (Evans, 2018) and the passing of legislation to recognise and explicitly support OER (Green, 2012;Palmedo, 2012) have all provided opportunities for flourishing practice, and research provides both an evidence base and credible legitimacy for the movement.. Funding from the Australian Government's Office for Learning and Teaching provided a solid foundation to the nation's emerging OEP empirical base with support of three national projects. Bossu et al (2014) investigated the adoption and use of OEP and OER in Australian higher education.…”

Facilitating Open Access to Information: A Community Approach to Open Education and Open Textbooks

“…Students are “locked out” of their text after semester concludes, unable to access the information, or use it post‐graduation for professional purposes. The rising cost of textbooks was recognized by the Australian Student Union in 2016 (Jacobs, ), who responded with a petition for discussion in Federal Parliament, but no government action has been forthcoming, in direct contrast to international responses such as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario committing to open text adoption after mounting student pressure (Barker, Jeffrey, Jhangiani, & Veletsianos, ).…”