Quebec lagged behind the paw

File Photo, didier debusschère
The phenomenon of the manuals available online free of charge is spread a bit everywhere in North America. It is gaining momentum in colleges and canadian universities, while Quebec lags behind on this trend.

Daphnée Dion-Viens

Sunday, 3 September 2017 00:00

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Sunday, 3 September 2017 00:00

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Following the footsteps of other canadian provinces, Ontario is investing to develop the digital textbooks are free for the students in colleges and universities, while Quebec is in default to this chapter.

In June, the ontario government announced that it injected $ 1 million to support the creation of textbooks available for free online via the platform eCampusOntario. The goal : to make more accessible manuals which is usually very expensive, ” says its president and ceo, David Porter. In Ontario, approximately 35 % of students don’t buy required textbooks for their studies, the costs of which can go up to $ 1000 per year, he says.

“This is a phenomenon that is widespread across North America and relatively new in Canada, but it is growing,” says Mr. Porter.

Manuals ” collaborative “

These manuals are created by professors from colleges and universities who are paid for this work. They can also edit the content already available online for that it is better suited to their courses, ” explains Mr. Porter. You then have to convince other teachers to use these resources, rather than traditional textbooks published by publishing houses.

“The biggest challenge is to make you aware of this opportunity for teachers. This is a new concept for them, ” added Mr. Porter.

Currently, 180 manuals are available on the website of eCampusOntario. The funding from Queen’s Park will create new works with digital curriculum covered so far, such as those in the field of health, adds Mr. Porter.

The British Columbia pioneer

Ontario, like other canadian provinces, walking on the traces of British Columbia, who was the first to fund the creation of digital textbooks free of charge in 2012. In this province, approximately 43 000 students from 36 schools use these textbooks 2.0, which has helped to generate savings of $ 4 million, according to BCcampus.

These digital textbooks, however, are still far from completely replacing the traditional printed manuals produced by publishing houses well-established.

Among the obstacles that hamper the development of these textbooks collaborative, there are concerns surrounding the quality of the content available online free of charge, some fearing that the review process is not as rigorous as that which exists for the traditional manual.

The organizations that support these initiatives argue that the training is as rigorous as it is also subject to a peer review, as do the publishing houses.

“An interesting idea” that has yet to be developed

Unlike France and several other canadian provinces, no initiative is underway in Quebec to develop digital textbooks available free to college students and universities.

“It is a little late in Quebec over this, laments Simon Such, president of the student Union of Quebec (UEQ). It is really an idea that we find interesting. “

The UEQ is also planning to document on the subject in the coming months to develop concrete proposals. Scholarships could be granted to finance the drafting of these manuals, lead, and Mr. Such. “The cost of books has become truly astronomical. We want to democratize access, ” he adds.

The student Federation collegiate, it is also believed that this type of initiative would be interesting to put in motion, provided that the content of these free text-books to be validated and box, ” says its president, Jason St-Amour.

Digital Plan

Even the sound of a bell in the hand of Pierre-Julien Guay, president of Showcase technology-education. According to him, the launching of such a project “would not require enormous efforts” and could be initiated by the college Centre for development of teaching materials (CCDMD), which already produces digital educational resources.

The CCDMD produces, however, not of digital textbooks which could replace those sold by the publishing houses.

Its director, Cathie Dugas, explains that the centre’s mandate is to fill gaps in developing educational resources for small markets where the publishing houses are not present, due to lack of profitability.

This last hope, however, that the digital plan of the government Couillard, whose announcement is expected this fall, will include funding to develop more digital resources online for the post-secondary system. “We’ll see how this plan is going to respond to this need, because there is definitely a need,” she says.

What is a digital manual free ?

It is a manual available online that is created by a community of teachers.

As a general rule, the content is published under the free license Creative Commons, which allows each of us to change, adapt, and customize resources that are available.