Discover and Select An Open Textbook or Module

Discover: Tools Search OER repositories (aggregators) individually FolkSemantic (Web search for OER) FolkSemantic ccLearn Search (DiscoverEd beta) ccLearn Search Institutions (MIT, Yale) Web search for sites the above won’t pick up (Google, Bing, etc.) Limited use of Google Preview = Fair use Major (and minor) digitization projects And even commercial publishers, university presses

DiscoveryTools: Repositories MERLOT ◦ 21,000+ modules ◦ Peer reviews and opportunities to review ◦ Peer review standards available, customized for subjects ◦ Detailed search or browse ◦ Can elect to view only the highest rated materials ◦ Material types from Assignments to Quizzes and Textbooks ◦ Check out the Open Textbook Project ◦ Licenses vary

Discovery Tools: Repositories OER Commons ◦ 26,000+ modules ◦ 236 full textbooks ◦ Search or browse by subject, level, keyword ◦ Rated and reviewed by members ◦ Licenses vary

Discovery Tools: Repositories CCOTC Textbooks by Subject ◦ Not all are reviewed = opportunities to become a reviewer ◦ Review rubric available ◦ Browse by subject ◦ All open textbooks ◦ All general subject areas represented

Repositories: Connexions Connexions (not an aggregator) Connexions ◦ Almost 16,000 modules on the site ◦ Keyword, author, title search and browse ◦ Some modules combine to become collections and textbooks ◦ Standardized printing and binding ◦ XML for portability ◦ Consistent experience across the site ◦ Standardized CC license ◦ Quality assured by post-publication reviews, ratings, and endorsement lenses

More Repositories Internet Archive FREE Federal Resources for Educational Excellence COL Knowledge Finder Creative Commons OpenDOAR Curriki Hippocampus Edu2.0: Edu2.0 Wikibooks The Assayer Orange Grove USG (Georgia) Share Textbook Revolution (Student-run) Textbook Revolution Flat World Knowledge CK-12 Flexbook System Community College Open Textbook Collaborative

At a Glance Open Textbook Repositories and Lists Will be revised and reformatted prior to being posted

Discovery Tools: By Institution Open Yale Courses ◦ Each lecture could be a module, assignment, or supplementary material ◦ World-renowned faculty; CVs and biographies ◦ Variety of formats; Lecture videos ◦ Full courses, syllabi, readings lists, etc. MIT OpenCourseWare ◦ Over 2,100 courses ◦ Assignments and solutions available ◦ Variety of materials and formats suitable for adopting as modules, supplements ◦ World-renowned faculty; CVs and biographies ◦ Curriculum guides and more

Discover Tools: Institutions And more… ◦ TUFTS OpenCourseWare TUFTS OpenCourseWare ◦ Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative ◦ Utah State OpenCourseWare Utah State OpenCourseWare ◦ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health OCW Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health OCW ◦ Sofia Sofia ◦ Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Notre Dame OpenCourseWare ◦ Oops! Out of space for more, but they’re out there

Discovery Tools: Search engines ccLearn Search (DiscoverEd) ccLearn Search ◦ Designed to find OER quickly ◦ Combined search of valid and useful (curated) educational resources ◦ List of curators available List of curators ◦ Not limited to OER ◦ Full search, or categorized ◦ Also searches feeds for updates ◦ In development ◦ Should we “grow our own”?

Discovery Tools: Search engines FolkSemantic ◦ Searches 110,000+ resources ◦ Option to search only for full courses ◦ Sign up to join the OER community ◦ Widget available ◦ Options to broaden search beyond OER ◦ Tags available to members; Visual representation for browsing ◦ Members can contribute OER, discuss, maintain profiles and photos

Search Terms Subject Student Learning Objectives Course titles, descriptions Level Format Material type (Quiz, reading, etc.) Author or expert

Searches: Simple or Sublime Don’t overlook OAIster, Google, YouTube, PBS, and commercial sources – especially for modules, multi-media coursepacks or supplementary materialOAIster ◦ Many universities publish on YouTube ◦ Several PBS series stream for free ◦ Review your choices with customary rigor Search engines may have a “cc” option: Yahoo! cc Search, Google Advanced Yahoo! cc SearchGoogle Advanced

Searches: Ask a Librarian Don’t overlook the Library! Librarians can assist with discovery ◦ Proficient in finding and providing high-quality information and learning resources ◦ Trending to access rather than acquisition ◦ Experts in collaboration ◦ Assist with evaluation ◦ Long history of providing free access

Publishers Participating Why? Traffic, publicity, advertising Just to name a few: ◦ Gutenberg-e (AHA, Columbia University Press) Gutenberg-e ◦ University of Chicago Press offers a new free ebook each month University of Chicago Press ◦ Texas A&M University Press Consortium Texas A&M University Press Consortium Many lists available online: “Google free ebook”

Major Digitization Projects Some considerations for use ◦ Edition ◦ Quality of the digital reproduction ◦ Enhancements, such as full-text searching Examples ◦ Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg ◦ TAMU University Libraries Digital TAMU University Libraries Digital ◦ Use OAIster to search many projects at once – 23 million recordsOAIster

Select Develop selection criteria ◦ Your discipline and/or institution may already have selection criteria ◦ How do these criteria differ from those created for printed textbooks? Use standardized criteria ◦ Based on discipline requirements and best practices Modify existing criteria ◦ For modules, e-books, and other formats Use available reviews

Select by: Instructor Priorities Accuracy Appropriateness Accessibility Authority Content Cultural relevance Currency Easily customizable Error-free Flexible format Modularity Pedagogical style Peer reviewed Portability Reading level SLOs Usable interface Others??

Select by: Student Priorities Free Easy to use & understand Accessible Free Available 24/7 Mobile, portable, printable, stable Culturally relevant content and format Free (again)

Select by: Standard Rubrics Community College Open Textbook Collaborative Community College Open Textbook Collaborative ◦ Standardized rubric, with comment section ◦ Appropriate and useful for Community Colleges ◦ Reviewer CV required ◦ Additional criteria suggested Additional criteria suggested ◦ Few reviews available = opportunities for reviewers

Select by: Standard Rubrics MERLOT ◦ Expertise, excellence, teaching experience, professionally active ◦ Training provided (Grape Camp) ◦ Evaluation criteria published Evaluation criteria published ◦ Rigorous process Rigorous process ◦ Awards noted ◦ Few reviews available = opportunities for reviewers

Select by: Hybrid Process Standard ◦ ALA Selection Policy ALA Selection Policy ◦ Community College Open Textbook Collaborative Community College Open Textbook Collaborative ◦ Connexions Lens Connexions Lens + Institution priorities + Discipline priorities + Instructor priorities + Student priorities

Try It! Link to this presentation Find 1-3 open textbooks or modules using the links Compare reviews Add your own criteria Consider using a module or an open textbook next semester, even as supplementary material Consider becoming a reviewer

But don’t take my word for it MERLOT Journal of Online Teaching and Learning MERLOT Journal of Online Teaching and Learning NCSU Libraries: Open Textbooks Educause Review, Volume 44, Number 1 Sustainable Scholarship: Open Access and Digital Repositories (Program materials available in.pdf) Sustainable Scholarship: Open Access and Digital Repositories

Thank You!