0.8 What are open textbooks?

The module “ Students and OER ” presented OER activities you can use with your students. This module, “What are Open Textbooks?,” provides an overview of open textbooks.

What are open textbooks?

An emerging development in OER is open textbooks , which are textbooks that are freely available with nonrestrictive licenses. Covering a wide range of disciplines, open textbooks are available to download and print in various file formats from several web sites and OER repositories. Open textbooks can range from public domain books to existing textbooks to textbooks created specifically for OER. Open textbooks help solve the problems of the high cost of textbooks, book shortages, and access to textbooks as well as providing the capacity to better meet local teaching and learning needs.

What do open textbooks look like?

There is a wide range of designs for open textbooks. The number of sites that provide access to them reflects the diversity of their design. Several file formats are often provided for open textbooks; typical formats are: HTML, Adobe PDF, and plain text. To download an open textbook, locate one from an OER repository or web site. The following list illustrates the vast landscape of sites that make open textbooks freely available. Go to one or more of these sites to locate an open textbook of interest to you:

• Project Gutenberg was the first producer of free electronic books. See their top 100 downloads: (External Link) .
• Wikibooks is a Wikimedia project started in 2003 with the mission to create a free collection of open-content textbooks that anyone can edit. Wikibooks provides support for multiple languages .
• (FHSST) was initiated by young South African scientists and now brings together volunteers from around the world who are willing to contribute to the writing of the books.
• The California Open Source Textbook Project (COSTP) is a collaborative, public/private undertaking. It has been created to address the high cost, content range, and consistent shortages of K-12 textbooks in California.
• Open Book Project is aimed at the educational community and seeks to encourage and coordinate collaboration among students and teachers for the development of high quality, freely distributable textbooks and educational materials on a wide range of topics.
• Manybooks.net provides free eBooks for PDAs, iPods, or eBook readers. Books are available in several languages.
• The Assayer provides a catalog of books whose authors have made them available for free.

Using open textbooks in teaching and learning

There are a number of advantages to adopting an open textbook over a traditional textbook. The ability to customize a text so that it is more closely aligned with one’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical approach is a benefit to teachers. Students benefit from this as well; with targeted topics, activities, and assignments customized for their individual learning needs, the possibility of a higher engagement with the material is more likely than with a traditional textbook. The capacity to customize a text into discernable chunks offers a more personalized approach to learning.