BCcampus’s Open Textbook Project currently has more than 170 books on a wide range of common post-secondary course subjects , everything from social science and business to trades and adult literacy upgrading courses.
Open textbooks allow students and educators to use textbooks online at no cost under a Creative Commons license.
“The biggest perk of open textbooks are the cost-savings, saving money as a student will always come first,” said second-year environmental studies student Ryan McAllister.
Okanagan College ranked third in open textbook adoptions out of 31 participating post-secondary institutions in BCcampus’s 2015-16 Annual Review of their Open Textbook Project.
“Okanagan College is committed on a number of fronts to minimizing barriers to post-secondary education,” explains Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton.
“It’s encouraging to see our professors supporting the Open Textbook Project and helping students save on the cost of their education.”
BCcampus reports that since 2012, 1,260 Okanagan College students have saved more than $190,000 across 76 different course sections where faculty and instructors have adopted an open textbook to replace a primary textbook or educational resource that must be purchased.
Open Textbooks are peer-reviewed to maintain quality standards and offer the added benefit of allowing for collaboration among educators and students. Open Textbook content can be edited and updated instantly and students can view the resources in various online or printable formats.
The speed at which you can move through an online text to search or reference a specific topic and the ability to access your text anywhere without having to carry a book is great,” adds McAllister. “I find I spend more time reading further into the subject matter when using the online format.”
Since the launch of the project in 2012, more than 22,000 B.C. students have used Open Textbook for a savings of more than $2 million. BCcampus projects that Open Textbook will save students more than $800,000 in the 2016-17 academic year.
For more information on the Open Textbook Project visit bccampus.ca
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
