Introduction
This guide was created by BCcampus Open Education with the assistance of several faculty and staff who attended the BCcampus Adoption Workshop Development Sprint on March 31–April 1, 2016 in Vancouver. Participants included Caroline Daniels and Dr. Farhad Dastur (Kwantlen Polytechnic University), Inba Kehoe (University of Victoria), Dr. David Harper (University of the Fraser Valley), Lucas Wright (UBC), and Gail Morong (Thompson Rivers University).
In the three years since then, open education has grown and matured in British Columbia and elsewhere. In response to those changes, information and links have been updated throughout this guide.
Reported open textbook adoptions have grown in B.C. from a cumulative savings of $5 million in textbook costs in 2016 to over $13 million in 2019. This increase is the result of enhanced awareness and the acknowledged benefits of using these openly licensed resources; the ongoing creation and customization of quality open textbooks for the B.C. and Canadian post-secondary curricula; and better tracking of open textbook usage in the classroom. These factors, and BCcampus’ three additional years of experience in this area, have provided the knowledge and examples used for new material in this guide.
This adoption guide is now divided into four parts. The first sections address three distinct groups involved in open textbook adoption: instructors, post-secondary institutions, and students. Section 1, Instructors: Adopt an Open Textbook is an updated carryover from the original guide, as is the last part called Learn More. The third section was written for students interested in taking an active role in advocating for open textbooks on their campus.
The second and most expansive new section focuses on the why, what, and how aspects of open textbook adoption for individuals and institutions that support faculty in this area. It outlines the operational aspects of surveying instructors about, tracking usage of, and reporting about open textbooks (and other OER). This procedural information is based on BCcampus’ six years of experience working with faculty and open textbook adoptions. Many real life examples are included to illustrate how B.C.’s colleges, institutes, and universities have incorporated open textbook information into their course descriptions, bookstore order forms, library catalogues, and other institutional processes in an effort to standardize and simplify open textbook adoptions.
