Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand whether certain theoretical benefits that open educational resources (OER) might have on teacher practice were being realized by a group of secondary teachers using open science textbooks. In surveys and interviews, teachers were asked to describe their classroom practice before and after adopting an open textbook, including practices relating to openness. Teachers were also asked to rate the quality of open textbooks they were using in contrast to textbooks used previously. Most participants reported changes to practice, and the most commonly cited changes could be attributed to a combination of openness and online format. For example, participants described linking textbook content to other online resources. In comparisons of current to previous practice, however, teachers did not report increases in the open practices of collaboration, revising, or adapting.
Highlights
For K-12 teachers in the United States, finding textbooks that fully meet their needs can be challenging
The lead researcher asked participants to describe their transition from non-open to open textbooks, their experience with using open textbooks, and their changed classroom practices
Three main findings were contributed by this study: (a) open practices of collaboration and revision did not increase after open textbooks were adopted, (b) participants preferred their open science textbook to their previous, non-open counterpart; and (c) the effects of online format were interactive with the effects of openness
Summary
For K-12 teachers in the United States, finding textbooks that fully meet their needs can be challenging. Some textbooks are not adequately aligned to state standards, as publishers do not create separate versions for varying standards. Some textbooks that do align with the standards may not be developmentally appropriate or adequate in differentiated instruction for individual student needs. With commercial instructional materials not meeting teacher and student needs, some schools are turning to open educational resources (OER), defined by UNESCO (2016) as “any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license” Many proponents of open textbooks note three potential benefits: (a) cost savings, (b) increased access to quality content, and (c) teacher empowerment or improved professionalism (Kimmons, 2016; U.S Department of Education, 2015)
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