Find, Author, and Share Open Textbooks

Photo: Brian Stansberry

What is this course about?

This is a course about OER and the open textbook revolution occurring in education.  It is an open course offered at a new kind of university, Peer to Peer University (P2PU), where there are no instructors or brick and mortar classrooms, just facilitators and learners in an online learning community.  So what does this mean for you and me, the facilitator, who are both peer learners in the course?   Well, it means that although I will forge a path through the course curriculum, you are expected to not just follow my path but to take detours where your chosen OER project indicates and then to share your findings from those side trips here.

How does this course work?

Good question … I am creating weekly curriculum modules for the course, which are the jumping off points for the discoveries that you want to make in pursuing your OER project.    To get the most out of this course, you will:

1. Read the course syllabus to review learning objectives
2. Choose an OER project the first week (Jan 26-Feb 2) and team up with others in the course to complete it.
3. Read the weekly modules and contribute (edit) when you have new information to share with others.  Post questions, ideas, ...
4. Make thoughtful contributions to the weekly forums and comment on others’ remarks.
5. Participate in online community meetings.
6. Work in a team on your OER project throughout the course.
7. Present team project findings during last week of course (March 2-9)
8. Post interesting OER events and ideas with others.

We will identify team projects in the Introductory Forum and the Orientation Meeting. Everyone will be asked to join a project or propose one of their own by the end of the first week of the course.

How do we communicate with each other?

We will have both synchronous and asynchronous opportunities to communicate.  Since our membership is widely dispersed with regards to time zones, the course forums will be our main communication mechanism which allows everyone to view and respond at their own best time to course topics.  We will also have a weekly online synchronous meeting most likely using the Elluminate tool which I have access to through my my college but I am open to utilzing other tools if you have suggestions.   Project teams may communicate using any tools that work for them including course forums.

Here is more information about proposed tools.

College Open Textbooks & the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources

Welcome to College Open Textbooks. This program is funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The purpose is to increase the demand for open textbooks in community colleges in the USA and Canada. Success is measured by the number of faculty members who adopt open textbooks.

• What is the Community College Consortium for OER (CCCOER) and why should I care?
• Where else can I learn more about OER and open textbooks?

OER and Open Textbook Overview

Did you know the idea of open textbooks came out of the Open Educational Resource (OER) movement which in itself is aligned with the Open Source Software movement?  It's true! Keep reading for background information on open textbooks but if you want more information about a great community of open source people, software, and manuals, check out the Floss Manuals Community.

What is an open textbook?   Well, definitions vary somewhat but here is a working definition:

An open textbook is

1. Modifiable by the instructor - which means the text is in a digital format, broken into modular chunks, and it can be adapted to serve the needs of the instructor.
2. Low cost/no cost to students. This means the texts are usually free for those with computers and internet access. It can also mean the text may be printed for free or a small fee to cover the costs of ink and paper. Sometimes these texts can be available in bound copies which range in cost from $10-$60. Sometimes small fees are charged for open textbooks for special media usage like files for mobile devices or highlighting software.

In order to be an open textbook, the creator has changed the copyrights from All Rights Reserved to Some Rights Reserved using an open license like the Creative Commons license. There will be more about this in the Topic "Selecting Open Textbooks".

Evaluating Open Textbooks

One thing to consider when looking at open textbooks - whether self-created or downloaded from one of the repositories, is its quality and appeal to students.

The first question to consider is who are the competitors? The open textbook does have competitors, whether they are are other open textbooks or traditional closed, print books. How are these books being used? Who is using them? What titles are they using? If the book is being considered for mass adoption, do you know what the alternative choices are and how the text is differentiated from it?

Another question to think about is does the open textbook address the learner? Keep the user in mind with respect to how and what you (or the author) are writing. For a positive experience, it is not about what you want to convey; it is about what the students will understand. Remember, students come with different backgrounds, learning styles, levels of technology experience, etc.

Does the open textbook have clear outcomes? A quality open textbook should correlate to standards. Many institutions use learning outcomes as part of their accreditation process. Correlating the text to outcomes helps the adopting institution verify it has covered the objectives while using the text.

More to Consider

Does the open textbook engage the learner? This is a key piece for users - especially if their courses are taught online. Spend the time finding the right Creative Commons-licensed graphics to convey your messages. This is a very image-driven world. Graphics need to be accurate, attractive, and conveying and idea or emotional impact. It is also very important to spend time designing/reviewing the layout, fonts, text, and color choices.

Has the open textbook been reviewed and do you know the reviewers? Reviewers may include your faculty adopters, or a review site like College Open Textbooks. Remember, in standard publishing, executives are very selective on who they have reviewing a book for its appropriateness. You should be selective as well.

Does the open textbook follow copyright laws? Authors/creators of open textbooks need to make sure they have the rights to pictures, quotes, etc., or permission to use the material from the author. You need to be familiar with copyright, Creative Commons licensing, and providing balance on controversial issues. Fact checking is paramount as well as verifying answers to quiz/test questions are correct. Reference checking is key for any content development. Remember, the authors are only as credible as their source material.

Last but not Least - Think About...

Is your open textbook well researched? It bears repeating: you are only as credible as the sources you include within the text.

Is the content current? Book publishers can get textbooks to market in six months if pushed. How timely will the information be in your open textbook if it takes you longer than that to find/create and adopt one?

Does the open textbook have appropriate resources? Often, just text is not enough to get a textbook (open or otherwise) adopted. Consider finding/adding/creating items like:

• A Student Edition
• Lecture Notes
• Study Guides
• Standardized Test Prep and Practice
• A Teacher Edition
• Teacher/Classroom Resources
• Assessments

Is the open textbook easy to adopt? There are a variety of really interesting tools to help bring content to life like adding in video and audio, simulations, games, etc. You will need to take time to review and vet these items to make sure they work as intended. The inclusion of these tools, however, could be the differentiators in your book being adopted. Remember the keys to adoption include whether the textbook has flexibility, workable technology, an acceptable price point, and ranks high in usability by a range of tech-savvy students to tech-neophytes.

Student Voices

Watch this slide show from Nicole Allen, Textbook Advocate Director, Student Public Interest Research Groups as she describes the problem with current college textbooks from a student point of view.

Weekly Forum Questions

These questions will be copied into the Forums tab of the course but here is a head's up on what questions we'll be discussing this week.  

Question #1 -What resources do you currently use (or are considering using) that can be considered "open"? If you have none right now, what are you interested in finding?

Please include links to current open content if you are using any. This way we will help others see what is available.

Question #2 -What are your comments or concerns regarding the idea of open textbooks?Please brainstorm with others how these concerns might be overcome.