A Case Study in Mitigating COVID-19 Inequities through Free Textbook Implementation in the U.S.

Williams, Katherine; Werth, Eric

doi:10.5334/jime.650

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“… Strategic indicators should go beyond the traditional view. WILLIAMS, K AND WERTH E (2021) . The Book Industry's Psychological, Financial, and Property Issues in COVID-19.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The strategies of private higher educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of literature

Lago

Fernandes

Barboza

2023

Social Sciences & Humanities Open

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“… Strategic indicators should go beyond the traditional view. WILLIAMS, K AND WERTH E (2021) . The Book Industry's Psychological, Financial, and Property Issues in COVID-19.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The strategies of private higher educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of literature

Lago

Fernandes

Barboza

2023

Social Sciences & Humanities Open

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“…The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous changes in teaching and learning. A number of studies have been conducted in analyzing how the pandemic influences teaching and learning in various educational contexts in terms broadly of teaching and learning materials and approaches ( Chen, 2020 ; Kanoksilapatham, 2021 ; Williams and Werth, 2021 ). With respect to studies into the impacts of COVID-19 on educational delivery, March et al (2021) noted distinct changes in both the completion rates and the delivery modes of courses during the pandemic.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived usefulness of open educational resources: Impact of switching to online learning for face-to-face and distance learners

Cheung

Wong²,

2023

Front. Psychol.

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This paper reports a study on the perceived usefulness of university students on open educational resources (OER) in relation to the switch of learning mode to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants involved two groups of students, one studying in a face-to-face mode and the other in a distance learning mode. They took part in a survey which was conducted in 2019 before the pandemic (with a total of 912 responses) and 2021 during the pandemic (with a total of 1,018 responses). The results show that both groups of students generally perceived OER to be more useful during the pandemic. The specific types of OER which were perceived as relatively more useful include open online courses and open access textbooks. Face-to-face students showed a higher level of perceived usefulness of OER for preparing tests and examinations, while distance learning students perceived OER as more useful for supplementing course materials. They both concerned about the limitations of OER, especially on accuracy and comprehensiveness. The findings suggest the importance of recognizing the diverse needs of the two groups of students and offering appropriate OER support for them.

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“…University fees are a barrier to access and even if students manage to find the money (on their own or with government support), the life of a student is expensive. Additional Cox et al 10.3389/feduc.2022.881998 challenges related to the cost and appropriateness of textbooks in higher education (HE) have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the widening inequality that has manifested as a result (Hargreaves, 2021;Williams and Werth, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable open textbook models for social justice

2022

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Growing inequity continues to manifest within and between higher education institutions, highlighting the plight of the disadvantaged versus the advantaged. Against this backdrop, students’ ability to access quality textbooks and educational resources with locally relevant content presents a critical equity issue. Open textbooks provide opportunities to address social justice in the classroom. Highlighting the injustices which motivated authors in the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative at the University of Cape Town (UCT), this study uses Catherine Bovill’s framework of inclusion to examine the processes of 11 open textbook initiatives at UCT in terms of their degrees of inclusivity, with a focus on student participation. The authors draw on the work of political philosopher Nancy Fraser and her central norm of “parity of participation” in order to analyze the cases in terms of their ability to provide affirmative or transformative remedies to injustice. The data presented in this study were derived from a mixed-methods research and implementation approach, in which a survey was administered to the lead authors of the 11 open textbook initiatives. The proposals submitted by ten of these initiatives in their application for a DOT4D grant and their grant reports were also an important data source. These data, combined with insights from two rounds of in-depth interviews with five authors from the study sample provides insight into the injustices academics were grappling with and the ways in which they endeavored to address them. This article articulates four open textbook models with varying degrees of colleague and student inclusion. Examining authorship, quality assurance and publishing activities as nodes of inclusivity, the article provides insight into the strategies open textbook authors at UCT adopt in order to address social injustice in the classroom related to access and representation. It also considers ways in which higher education institutions can address sustainability in order to support the endeavor.

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A Case Study in Mitigating COVID-19 Inequities through Free Textbook Implementation in the U.S.

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

The strategies of private higher educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of literature

The strategies of private higher educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of literature

Perceived usefulness of open educational resources: Impact of switching to online learning for face-to-face and distance learners

Sustainable open textbook models for social justice

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