Open Textbook Authoring Models & Platforms

Scott LeslieBCcampus

February 7, 2012

What is this talk about?

Is it about: Textbooks?

eBooks? Open Textbooks?

Websites? OER?

What is this talk about?

YES

Like any new technology, ebooks & textbooks CAN simply replicate the forms of their predecessors…

But they DON'T HAVE TO.

Choices

• Part of what eBooks and Open Textbooks can be is based on the “affordances” offered by the technologies

• Part of it is based on what you are used to or wanting to do

• Part of it is meeting immediate needs and anticipating future ones as best as possible

“Affordances”

"a quality of an object, or an environment, which allows an individual to perform an action" (wikipedia)

“Networked” Affordances

• one copy used by many• left in place / addressable• allows for collaboration

“Digital” Affordances

• its form is not its content• infinite copy-ability • infinite change-ability/versions - it does

not need to be "final" or "finished”• iterable, forkable new versions

“Open” Affordances

• Serendipity as operating principle– can't guarantee if you share openly

serendipity will happen, but CAN guarantee if you don't share openly, it probably WON'T

Questions to help work through these choices

• Who are the Authors?• Who will Read/Use the material?• How will they Author?• How will they Read?• How they Interact with the material

and each other?

Who are the Authors?

• Single Author?• Multiple (Known) Authors?• Multiple Authors, some unknown• Students as Authors / Book as Product

Who will Read/Use the material?

• My students?• Any student?• My co-instructors?• Any instructor?

How will they Author?

• Written on one's own on the desktop (word)• Written on one's own on the network

(google docs)• Written with another, but not

collaboratively (google docs, wordpress chapters)

• Written with others, colloboratively and asynchronously (wiki)

• Written with others, collaboratively and synchronously (booki, etherpad)

How will they Read?

• Online (web browser)• In print (themselves, or bound via

service or bookstore)• eBook• Audiobook? Accessibility?

How they Interact with the material and each other?

• On their own? / With others• Annotatable? Annotations Shareable?

Outside of closed platform?• Rich Media and Interactivity?• Can they contribute? Comment?

Fork/Derive?

Picking the solution that is right for you means a balance between

Your current practice and skill levels

Needs of your primary readership, and where possible, future ones

Realistic potential for serendipity

Your infrastructure and other technical Realities

Examples

• On your own – Desktop approach• On your own or with others –

Wordpress approach• With others – Mediawiki approach• With others (and REAL fast!) – book

sprints

On your own – desktop approach

Example: Industrial Organization - http://nboccard.wordpress.com/download/

• LaTeX - http://www.latex-project.org/• Word (or better Open Office) -> HTML ->

ePub; print to PDF• Sigil - http://code.google.com/p/sigil/ • Can still get multiple outputs but lose

affordances around versioning, collaboration

On your own or with others – Wordpress approach

Example: http://sleslie.pressbooks.com/Example: http://tkbr.ccsp.sfu.ca/bookofmpub/

• Pressbooks – http://pressbooks.com • Anthologize - http://anthologize.org/

• Produces web, PDF and ePub versions• Comments allow for interaction w/ non-

authors• Easily permits multiple authors or single author

With others – Mediawiki approachExample:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience

• Collections Plugin - http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Collection

• ePubExport - http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:EPubExport

• WikiEducator - http://wikieducator.org/Main_Page

• Produces web, PDF and ePub version• Web versions imminently collaborative, both in

authoring and after the fact as teaching/learning space

With others (and REAL fast!) – Book Sprints

Examples: http://www.booki.cc/groups/floss-manuals/

• Book Sprints - http://www.booksprints.net/

• Booki - http://www.booki.cc/• Etherpad - http://etherpad.org/

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE IPAD/IBOOKS?

• Absolutely, worth looking into, but…• To fully get the benefit, all of your

readers must be using iPads• Apple playing fast and loose with

standards (again)• Lots of Teh Shiny is stuff you couldn’t

do on your own anyways, and with others, CAN do in more accessible ways

Other Stuff

• Connexions – http://cnx.org/• ePub reader browser add-on

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/epubreader/

• GrabMyBooks browser add-on https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/grabmybooks/

• It's all about the (work)FLOW - Open Educator as DJ http://edtechpost.wikispaces.com/Open+Educator+as+DJ+%28Final%29

The End

• BCcampus Open Textbook pilot – http://opentextbook.troy.bccampus.ca/

• Edtechpost – http://www.edtechpost.ca/

• sleslie@bccampus.ca / @sleslie