Robert Willis - Management

1) What drove you to make the decision to switch to OERs?

Two things: the ridiculous cost of textbooks and our inability to obtain a text that really focused on the material that we wanted.  For the MBA research methods course, there really wasn't a good text out there that addressed the specific needs of a business research methods course. For the capstone strategy course, all the texts really did was present the foundational articles in a connected series. We figured we could just point the students to the actual articles ( free through the Library) and supply examples/cases/etc from the news. Shortly after that, I found a great textbook through OpenText BC that I use as a backup. (A visiting Emeritus Professor from the US was very impressed with the text and commented that it would cost a lot of $$$ in the USA).

2) What was the biggest hurdle you overcame?

There weren't a lot of hurdles, actually. My selections were accepted as valid and rigorous by both my Chairs and the other people who were teaching the courses - I had been tasked with finding the books - and the students accepted the books without any real fuss. I'm pretty sure they also appreciated the price. The only issue with using free resources is that you have to ensure that the authors update their material on a regular basis, which is the case in the texts I use. Also - you have to supply your own "additional" material in terms of exercises and so forth, which can take up time.  I do this as an ongoing practice - even during the summer I'll find a news article or an experiential exercise and add it to my files.

3) Where did you find the most support?

My colleagues were great in pointing out possible sources and encouraging me. We're lucky in BC to have a lot of professional support in terms of stuff managed by BCIT and BC OpenText. There's a site called "Bookboon" that offers free resources (one of my friends authored a text that is hosted there) as well as "premium" books. I use several of their free books as supplements but they could also be used as texts. The ads in them are easy to ignore.

4) What are your thoughts on using OERs since you made the switch?

If anything, I am more determined to find and use OERs beyond textbooks. Textbook publishers have expanded their offerings in the last few yeas to include helpful options like e-text/e-pub versions and online 'rental' options of varying kinds. This is welcome, but the twin problems of cost to students and tailoring to specific course needs have not decreased. (I won't get into how poorly remunerated textbook authors are or the situation of people hired to create powerpoints and testbanks!).

Sources and repositories for OER texts and support materials have blossomed. I was scouting OERs for a new text for a colleague and found well over 1/2 dozen main repositories (like OpenStax or BCCampus or OpentextBC) and dozens of libraries or other secondary links. OERs have also expanded into disciplne-specific repositories, as well. I've used Dr. Carpenter's Strategy Toolbox page for years, but now there are many, many more such sites. Its a growing movement and I am happy to see that.

Original interview October 2018, updated October 2021.