Developing an Open Educational Resource Textbook for Intermediate German: Steps, Pedagogical Decisions, and Student Perspectives

Abstract

This article describes the endeavor of a small German department at a private college in the Northeast of the United States to eliminate a traditional intermediate German textbook in favor of developing an independent Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook. After providing a literature review on textbooks and OERs, the article first outlines the program's rationale for no longer using a paper‐based textbook and then summarizes the steps taken to develop two OER textbooks for intermediate German I and II. The article concludes with a brief research study investigating students’ perceptions of learning with the new OER textbook. Based on 30 student responses from two different semesters, the study found that the majority of students enjoyed working with the OER, preferred it over traditional textbooks, and perceived several benefits including convenience of access, its interactivity, and affordability.