Abstract
ABSTRACT There has been little research into the impact of textbook costs on higher education in the United Kingdom. To better understand textbook use patterns and the issues faced by UK students and educators the UK Open Textbooks Project (2017–2018, http://ukopentextbooks.org/)) conducted quantitative survey research with United Kingdom educators in September 2018. This article reports on the findings of this survey, which focussed on awareness of open educational resources; textbook use and rationale; awareness and use of open textbooks; and open licensing. Results reveal fertile ground for open textbook adoption with potential to support a wide range of open educational practices. The findings indicate strategies for supporting pedagogical innovation and student access through the mainstream adoption of open textbooks.
Highlights
Open textbooks have dominated the mainstreaming of open educational resources (OER) in North America (Pitt, 2015)
Current reported teaching roles were largely split across three groups, with respondents who were teachers, tutors, or instructors (31.3%, n = 30), module leads with teaching (26%, n = 25) and course or program leaders (26%, n = 25)
This article has presented the results of a survey with UK higher education (HE) educators on the existing and potential use of open textbooks
Summary
Open textbooks have dominated the mainstreaming of open educational resources (OER) in North America (Pitt, 2015). Survey results provide much needed insights into current UK educator experiences and their awareness of textbooks and open licensing. This article presents and contextualizes these results within existing research (see Rolfe & Pitt, 2019; Farrow et al, in press; and the main report on the project, which includes provisional findings from this survey, Pitt et al, 2019). By examining the survey findings through the lens of open educational practices (OEP), the findings contribute to the emerging field of UK-specific research on OER and OEP and provide recommendations for increasing the visibility of open approaches.
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