#pearsoncite @speakerhandle eTexts and Digital Resources… Going All In @3X100

• eTexts at Algonquin • Project Overview • Student’s and Accessibilities • “Our Digital Integration Solution” is located in Ottawa , Canada

• Founded in 1967 • Located in Canada’s national capital of Ottawa, Ontario • Comprehensive polytechnic education • Applied research intensive institution • >20,000 full-time students • >35,000 part-time students • ~185 programs of study ranging from: – Apprenticeship trades, 1-yr certificates, – 2- & 3-yr diplomas, – 4-yr degrees and post-grad programs Our Digital Journey

2013 eTexts

2011 BYOD for all programs

Blended Learning 2004 (Hybrid) Courses

2002 Online General Education Courses

2000 Learning Mgmt. System

1995 Network/email accounts for all students, beginning of digital shift eText Project – Algonquin College

Accessibility Achievement Affordability

For Participating Programs: – 100% Students have access to – 100% of their digital resources on the first day of class, with – 100% access, On-line or Off-line at anytime of the day in perpetuity, on multiple devices of their choice. – At a significant savings compared to print based resources

eText Project – January 2013 The following first level, Winter Intake Programs were involved in the eText Project in January 2013 1. Business Mgt. & Entrepreneurship 2. Business Administration 3. Computer Engineering Technology 4. Computer Programmer 5. Computer Systems Technician 6. Event Management These Publisher partners were involved in the eText Pilot – Pearson Publishing – Nelson Publishing – McGraw Hill – Wiley

What is an Institutional Pay Model or Course Fee?

. Students pay for content as part of their course fee upon registration

. Students receives access to content prior to the first day of class

. Institution reimburses publisher

. Students savings are significant

. Faculty can begin to teach students at the beginning of the semester, confident that the students all have a resource

eText Models at Algonquin SPM Student Pay Model • Students purchase a resource online, from our bookstore, and publisher websites. Typically a 30 / 60 / 90 day rentals. Significant savings based on length of term IPM Institutional Pay Model – (Course Fee Model)

• Course fee model offers , “Permanent Version” and can be printed, with savings of over 40% of the tradition textbook. • 100% of the students must participate. eTexts are available to all students before the first day of class. eTexts are available only through our Student Resource Portal ESPM Enhanced Student Pay Model • Similar to the institutional pay model, with the exception that student purchases the resource. The savings to student approx. 25-35% of the traditional textbook cost.

eText Model Comparison Chart

Features SPM IPM ESPM eTexts purchased online 30 / 60 / 90 day YES rental IPM eText - Permanent Version YES YES eTexts purchased online 2 page -10 page YES max. Unlimited Print – Chapter by Chapter YES YES Resources available using the Student YES YES Portal eTexts fees are collected with Tuition Fees YES YES 100% of the students have their eTexts on YES YES the first day of class eText Project

Pilot Fall 2013 Winter 2014 January 2013 Phase #1 Phase #1b

• 750 students • 3600 students • 3400 students • 6 programs • 34 programs • 34 programs • 27 courses • 180 courses • 160 courses • 32 Instructors • 450 sections • 420 sections • Level 1 only • 160 Instructors • 140 Instructors • 2,300 eTexts • Level 1 • Levels 1 & 2 • VitalSource Bookshelf • 16,800 eTexts Students • Access Codes • VitalSource Bookshelf • 14,000 eTexts • LMS Deployment • VitalSource Bookshelf • LMS Deployment

eText Project @ Algonquin College eText Advisory Group – Monthly Meetings

– Student Association – College Faculty – Student Council Representatives – Library Resources – Registrar’s Office – Blackboard Support – IT Support – AODA Officers – College Bookstore – College Print Centre – Student Success Specialists – Centre for Students with Disabilities

eText Project @ Algonquin College LMS (Blackboard) Deployment Challenges

– Course Level Deployment – unable to resolve individual student issues and account adjustments – Browser issues …Pop Up Blockers must be turned Off. – Process of adding the eText to the students “Cloud Account” is not intuitive and the student the leaves the resource in Blackboard, instead of in the VitalSource Bookshelf. – Only available “Online” in the browser view – Browser view has only a few of the rich eText features enhancing the Student Experience – Over 300-350 students each day requiring support on the first 2 weeks of class – At Algonquin College we have thousands of students enrolled in programs not currently using our Blackboard system. (Canvas, D2L)

eText Project

Fall 2014 Winter 2015 Phase #2 Phase #2b

• 9,900 students • 8,000 students • 100 programs • 90 programs • 600 courses • 450 courses • 1,450 sections • 1,050 sections • 300+ Instructors • 300+ Instructors • Levels 1/2/3 • Levels 1/2/3/4 • 32,000 eTexts • 18,000 eTexts • VitalSource Bookshelf • VitalSource Bookshelf • Digital Resource Portal • Digital Resource Portal

eText Project @ Algonquin College Observations following Fall 2014 / Winter 2015

– Student Level deployment of student specific Software and eTexts was very successful using customize solution – Very intuitive and seamless interface with students accessing all their required resources a week before the first day of class – Less than 30-40 students a day at our eText support counters looking for help in using their eTexts – Improved student and faculty satisfaction and engagement – Course Fee and Student Pay Deployment models

eText Project

Fall 2014 Winter 2015 Fall 2015 Phase #2 Phase #2b Phase #3

• 9,900 students • 8,000 students • 14,000 students • 100 programs • 90 programs • 130 programs • 600 courses • 450 courses • 800 courses • 1,450 sections • 1,050 sections • 2,250 sections • 300+ Instructors • 300+ Instructors • 500+ Instructors • Levels 1/2/3 • Levels 1/2/3/4 • Levels 1/2/3/4/5 • 32,000 eTexts • 18,000 eTexts • 45,000 eTexts • VitalSource Bookshelf • VitalSource Bookshelf • “New” eReading Platform • Digital Resource • Digital Resource • Digital Resource Portal Portal Portal

Student Resource Portal – Fall 2015

We created a Digital Resource Portal linked to our college student information to manage the deployment all our Program specific resources which include: Windows 8 Microsoft Office 2013 Adobe Creative Suite Project Management Software BOYD program specific details Distribution of eText Access Codes Full storefront eCommerce offerings …..computers, accessories

This digital deployment system is scalable as we increase demand on the system and easily allowed us control of the thousands of codes deployed during the semesters

eText Deployment Fall 2014/15 – Deployment Statistics

Fall 2014 Winter 2015 DATE: 9,990 Students 7,000 Students 32,000 eTexts 18,000 eTexts

Day 1 13,000 4,544 Day 2 16,788 7,733 Day 3 20,486 9,379 Day 4 23,516 9,918 Day 5 24,888 11,586 Day 6 25,500 12,638 Day 7 26,050 13,365

Day 8 27,627 15,707 Day 9 29,583 16,005 Day 10 31,740 17,800

System manages specific deployment of the resources based on the courses the student is registered in our Student Information System SIS

How Did We Implement an Institutional Pay Model (Course Fee)?

• Work with Publishers as your business partner • Develop a concept, business model, and shared values • Start with a small group of willing faculty, early adopters • Gain support from the Executive Team • Pilot, iterate, feedback, lessons learned • Involve stakeholders from the Institution – Registrar, Information Technology Services, Bookstore, Student Services, Students’ Association, Human Resources • Create an internal eText Advisory group who meet monthly

Can course fee improve Student grades and retention? REALLY?

Impact on our Students Winter 2015 Results*

eText Satisfaction Extremely or eText Satisfaction Extremely (Overall) somewha (Population Subset)# or t negative somewha 11% t negative Neutral Extremely 21% Extremely or or 17% Neutral somewha somewha t positive 22% t positive 72% 57%

# students who found the eTexts to be essential and who had no trouble using the software *March 2015 Survey, n=1,389 Faculty and Administration Feedback in Winter 2015 • Faculty: – Early adopters, now quite comfortable with the technology, are exploring ways to exploit it to enhance teaching and learning activities – More support available for technology and digital integration into curriculum. • Administration: – More accuracy in the integration and seamlessness of systems and processes; – Sustainability of the business model for the academic operations and the bookstore.

eText Project Publisher Agreements - Accessibilities

Early in the process we discussed with our Publisher partners several key factors to support Students with Disabilities: • Previously at Algonquin College the process of accessing digital files for modification can take several weeks • We mandated all resources purchased in the Institutional Pay Model be posted to the AERO (Alternative Educational Resources of Ontario) Database • Over the past two years we have ben responsible for making well over 1,600 textbook titles accessible from the AERO network. • All Ontario Colleges using AERO now benefit from our initiative

eText Project – Algonquin College Centre for Students with Disabilities The etext program has been a huge step forward in helping to make Algonquin College more accessible. The books are accessible to most people who are blind. For the student who require alternative versions of their books, in the new system we are able to get copies from the publishers much faster than in the old paper book system. Christine Kelsey, Assistive Technologist, CSD A few years ago a student would stop by the lab to request their material expecting to wait two weeks, and were now delighted to find out that we did not need to scan books and that they would be getting their books in a day or two. E-Texts have had a very positive impact on students using Assistive Technology or who need alternative format version of their text books.

Jason Timms, Assistive Technologist, CSD

eText Project – Algonquin College

TERM Students Resources Winter - January 2013 750 2,300 Spring - May 2013 N/A N/A Fall - September 2013 3,600 16,000 Winter - January 2014 3,400 14,000 Spring - May 2014 850 2,600 Fall - September 2014 9,900 30,000 Winter - January 2015 8,000 18,000 Spring - May 2015 1,100 3,600 Fall - September 2015 14,000 40,000 TOTALS 41,600 126,500 eText Project – Algonquin College

Our Future Plans …….

Currently the following institutions have approached us for support and guidance in integrating a similar Digital Solution:

• Assiniboine College • • Conestoga College • Ottawa Carleton District • School Board • • Saint Paul’s University • Dalhousie University • SAIT Polytechnic • • Simon Fraser University • • University of British Columbia • • • • Wilfred Laurier University • • Lethbridge University • ACJazan, ACKuwait and • Medicine Hat Alberta Montenegro Campuses eText Project – Algonquin College

ETEXT INTEGRATION SOLUTION – from “End-to-End”

Together with our Publisher and Software partners we have identified the four main components of an effective eText Integration Model

PAL Publisher Asset Library Book Adoption System providing a high level of An integrated Resource effective electronic data Management System connected management (ONIX FEEDS) to PAL and COMMS (Course Outline Mapping management System)

Digital Resource Portal Texidium eReader An integrated resource A cloud based eReader designed deployment system connected with the student user experience to Book Adoption System and as a priority, addressing AODA our SIS (Student Information System) compliance and available on most mobile devices eText Project – Algonquin College Over the last year Algonquin College has moved forward with our Publisher and Software partners in developing an “End-to-End Solution”

1/. PAL, Publisher Asset Library is a very large database or repository, where our publishers provide all national and institution specific resource data electronically using an Onix data feed (Online Information Exchange) from there corporate computers. 2/. Book Adoption System has been introduced to faculty and coordinators later next month. This system has been created to allow the course writers from our college “Course Outline Mgt. System” to select their resources both in Print and Digital format, from the PAL database. 3/. Digital Resource Portal, will continue to offer an efficient deployment solution 4/. Texidium eReader is a new reading platform developed by Algonquin and our Software Partners. We are currently testing in our Spring semester and will fully engage for the Fall 2015 deployment at Algonquin College both in our Ottawa and international campuses.

www.algonquincollege.com/etexts/

Next Steps in our eText Strategy • Continue with eText roll-out to more programs • Continue improving administrative processes – Texidium eReader – Publisher Asset Library (PAL) – Book Adoption System – Integration to existing Institutional Systems (ACSIS, COMMS) • Enhance communication plan: – Revitalize messaging (relying less on cost savings to students) – Report on the evidence and data collected • Formalize the research plan and continue the Pearson Efficacy Study – Define success in terms of outcomes (access, affordability, and quality); – Develop the analytics to measure intended outcomes; Key Takeaways from Our Overall Strategy

• Listen, engage, communicate, AND build trust; • Commit to shared vision and values; • Commit at all levels of organization to leading operational (i.e. business model) and cultural changes required; • Invest in faculty and staff, and the processes to support them;

• Align resources to support student/client needs; • Be disciplined with reference to core strengths, and stay true to your strategies; • Manage risk, … but accept that failure is part of the innovation process. Larry Weatherdon Algonquin College

Presenter’s photo Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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