When the Virtual Meets the Real: An Assessment of the Benefits and “Costs” of Open Access Texts for First Year Writing Courses at CUNY CUNY IT Conference November 29, 2012 John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Johannah Rodgers, Ph.D. English Department New York City College of Technology The City University of New York jrodgers@citytech.cuny.edu

Introduction In Fall, 2008, I began investigating Open Access text resources for First Year Writing courses at City Tech. The focus of this search was on OA texts, as opposed to OA textbooks. Today, I’m going to tell you a little bit about the reasons why the English Department had an interest in exploring the use of Open Access Texts and the evolution of the 2008 project

Project Background The First Year Writing program at City Tech includes two courses, ENG 1101, an introductory composition course and ENG1121, an advanced composition course For Fall, 2010, City Tech is offering 116 sections of 1101 and 42 sections of 1121, with total student enrollment in the First Year Writing program totaling roughly 4,000 students [2784 in 101; 1134 in 121] The average cost of a textbook for 1101 is $50 and for 1121 $100

Issues with Traditional Textbook Options for City Tech’s First Year Writing Courses In addition to being concerned about the high cost of text books for the writing courses, there were a number of other issues motivating the depatment’s interest in Open Access texts: Issues with Current Textbooks Characteristics of Open Access Texts High cost Bulky and heavy Contain more material than it is possible to teach in one semester Uniformity of texts Lack of contemporary readings “Free”: many “classic” composition essays (even those NOT in the public domain) are available on the Web or via library databases Accessible anywhere/anytime via Web and, if printed, highly portable Highly customizable; include only readings that will be taught Diversity of texts available Up to the minute texts available

Reasons for Interest in Open Access Texts in Composition Lower costs for students Increase diversity of readings for English Writing courses Use more current texts Allow Instructors greater flexibility to select readings and design their own courses Wide range of texts are available Convenience/Accessibility/Portability of Web- based texts

When the Virtual Meets the Real: Some Practical Issues with Using OA Texts in the Composition Classroom Resource Issues (Time and Expertise) Lack of pedagogical apparatus (introductions, discussion questions, assignments) for Web-based texts Lack of editing/copy-editing of Web-based texts Labor intensive for instructor to re-format Web-based texts for print Usability Issues Having hard copies of texts appear to be necessary for effective in-class discussions Students cannot yet easily annotate online texts Student access to printers and even at times to computers is limited *

Discussion Questions Do the benefits of OA texts for students texts outweigh disadvantages for instructors? Should colleges invest in developing and editing their own text resources for the First Year Writing Program? *

Downsides of OA Texts Writing instructors must take on additional roles of editor and publisher Lack of pedagogical apparatus (discussion questions/assignments) for Web-based texts Print-based texts appear to be necessary for effective in-class discussions Lack of editing/copy-editing of Web-based texts Labor intensive for instructor to re-format Web-based texts for print Not every students has a computer at home, the majority of City Tech students do not have printers at home, and computer labs at the college are over- crowded

Advantages and Potential Barriers to Adoption of OA Texts in First Year Writing Courses Lower costs for students Increase diversity of readings for Writing courses Use more current texts Allow Instructors greater flexibility to select readings and design their own courses Texts are available Convenience/Accessibility/ Portability of online texts POTENTIAL BARRIERS Lack of pedagogical apparatus (discussion questions/assignments) for Print-based texts appear to be necessary for effective in-class discussions Not every City Tech student has a computer at home, the majority do not have printers; college computer labs are over- crowded Lack of editing/copy-editing of Web-based texts Labor intensive for instructor to re-format Web-based texts for print

Evolution of Open Access Text Project for First Year Writing Courses at City Tech II III Digital Resources for Composition Phase I Phase II City Tech Digital Reader Phase I List of digital resources e- mailed periodically to full-time faculty List of digital resources posted on Library Wiki; available on demand for full- time faculty Pre-selected and thematically organized content available via Library Wiki; available on demand for full-time faculty

Moving Forward: Proposed Plans for Open Access Text Project for First Year Writing Courses at City Tech IV V VI City Tech Digital Reader Phase II Phase III Phase IV Create course-long reading sequences organized by theme; available via Department Web site for full-time and, pending department approval, adjunct faculty Create course-long reading sequences and assignments organized by theme; available to all faculty via Department Web site Create course-long reading sequences organized by theme and author with assignments and discussion questions; available to all faculty via Department Web site