More Questions? (This is my favorite thing to talk about!)
What are OER? And Open Textbooks?
OER stands for Open Educational Resources, and is a term that refers to any educational resources that are typically:
- Free to access online
- Low cost to get a print copy
- Licensed by the author/creator with rights that are less restrictive than copyright (i.e. all rights reserved). This license typically (though not always) includes the right of any user to copy (digitally) & print the text as well as the right to adapt it as desired for use in a course, as long as authorship is attributed and use is non-commercial.
Open Textbook is a specific type of OER that is designed to be a free or low cost substitute for a traditional textbook.
For those new to Open Textbooks
- Taming the Textbook MarketLibrarian Steven Bell's commentary on the price of textbooks and the options open textbooks offer.
- Erik Christensen, physics professor(Video) Testimonial on adoption of open textbook.
- Creative Commons Videos(Video) There are several here, each explaining different aspects of licensing and how it works
- Community College Consortium for Open Educational ResourcesLike the link above, a community of educators in support of use of open textbooks.
Helping Students Use Their Digital Textbook
- Using PDFs in Preview & Using PDFs in Adobe Reader These YouTube videos show students how to do more than just read PDF documents or print them. Learn how to modify PDF documents to enable annotating and note-taking.
- Getting to Know a Digital Textbook Article written by Dr. Terence Cavanaugh, professor at the Univeristy of North Florida detailing ways to make your open digital textbook more familiar and helpful to students by showing students how they can use free online programs to create their own audio textbooks, create study notes from their text and more
Further Reading
- Five Institutional Strategies for Textbook AffordabilityGreat quick article on OER adoption by librarian Steven Bell of Temple University.
- The Device Versus the BookAre e-readers a viable replacement for the printed textbook?
- The Quiet Revolution in Open LearningAn article on a little-publicized opportunity and incentive to create truly open and high quality educational resources. Exciting!
- New Digital Tools Let Profs Tailor...New Digital Tools Let Professors Tailor Their Own Textbooks for Under $20. And that's just one option, along with mix-and-match Web sites from big publishers and libraries of open-source content
Resource Files & Worksheets
- Open Textbooks brochureThis quick and simple brochure on open textbooks from the CCCOER is a great little resource. Download, print and share widely!
- OER Faculty Adoption GuideA collection of printable and fillable documents to guide faculty through process of adopting OER for their courses. All materials were originally produced by Kirkwood Community College Library are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Other Helpful Resources
- Text Readability RatingType or paste a portion of the text and you'll receive a rating on readability, including an approximate grade level