To examine the open educational resources (OER) climate in Florida’s postsecondary institutions, the Florida Distance Learning Consortium (FDLC) conducted an online survey of higher education faculty and staff between January 18 and April 4, 2012. The purpose of the survey was to assess their perceptions of textbook quality, awareness of OER, open textbooks, and open courseware, and respondents’ experience with open access materials. The survey was a follow-up to the Florida Open Access Textbooks in Higher Education Survey, which was administered in fall term of 2009.

The FDLC developed the revised statewide survey with input from staff at the State University System Board of Governors and staff at the Division of Florida Colleges. The Consortium commissioned a measurement and statistics professional to assist with developing and analyzing the survey. All 39 state institutions were invited to participate. From participating institutions, faculty and staff were solicited by campus officials. Over 2,500 respondents (n = 2,593) from eight of Florida’s 11 state universities and 22 of its 28 community colleges and state colleges agreed to participate in the anonymous online survey. Of the respondents, 916 (38%) reported employment by universities and 1,483 (62%) by colleges.

Parallel to the faculty and staff survey, a student survey was conducted to assess Florida postsecondary students’ experiences and perceptions of textbooks, digital resources, and OER during the same period as the faculty and staff survey. It was a revised version of the 2010 Florida Student Textbook Survey (FDLC, 2011). On questions selected for their comparative value, responses of students were examined for similarities and differences to the faculty and staff responses.

Key findings from this study indicated that faculty perceived themselves as being likely to use and, to a much smaller degree, to author OER. However, few had actually authored any type of OER. A deficiency of incentives for authoring could be a barrier to authorship. Time, support, professional editing, and the availability of co-authors were identified as important considerations in deciding to author. In addition, very few of the respondents indicated that creating any types of OER were considered as criteria for promotion and tenure. Open textbook and open courseware use patterns suggest that providing OER in small units (e.g., modules, chapters) may best fit the needs of faculty.

Keywords

Administrator · faculty · textbook · open educational resources survey · Florida