What makes a textbook open?
A textbook becomes "open" when its copyright-holder grants usage rights to the public through an "open license," which typically includes the right to access, reformat, and customize it at no additional cost.
What do open textbooks look like?
Hard copies of open textbooks look much like traditional texts. The primary differences are that open textbooks are also accessible online at no cost and the hard copies are optional and affordably priced.
How many open textbooks are there?
Thousands of open textbooks already exist and more are on the way.
Who pays open textbook authors?
Open publishing models are still evolving, so author payment varies. Some are paid royalties on print sales, some receive grant support, and others choose to write on their own time.
Are open textbooks high quality?
Many open textbooks are developed through traditional peer review, others are vetted by experts. As with any textbook, you are the final judge of whether an open textbook meets the needs of your course.
What do open textbooks look like?
Open textbooks are similar to traditional texts, but much more flexible. If desired, you can create a custom version by editing it yourself to match your classroom instruction. They are available in both print and digital formats:
(Some text in this guide has been provided by the oer consortium and Erik Christensen.)
Students love free and you can set-up your own secure wiki software or use Angel course management to provide students with materials that allow unrestricted access. Not everyone is prepared to master the technology or take the time to put together their own course package from scratch. The middle way is to use an open textbook publisher who provides a template and facilitates the use of multimedia.
Open-textbook publishers of which Flatworld is currently the largest, make their $ profit by formating your text as an ebook and selling printable and audio copies. Using an open textbooks is not the the same as using the digital version of a copyright text or a personalized published textbook where the publisher holds the copyright to all the material.
Want to know more?
The research is still out on print versus digital reading but the concesus seems to be that students prefer cheap to expensive.