Posts Tagged ‘open educational resources’

27
Sep
2017

accessibility into elarning

categories: e-learning, instructional technology

from the E-Learning 2.0 LinkedIn group:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/138953/138953-6318793101762711552

Free eBook: Incorporate Accessibility into Your eLearning

Curt Zilbersher Group Owner Director of E-Learning & Training Development

Accessibility from the Ground Up, by Pamela S. Hogle, offers dozens of tips for building eLearning content that more learners can use in additional ways.

build in ease of access and assistance for people who are new to technology, are English-language learners, have trouble distinguishing colors, need high-contrast designs, are hard of hearing, or use screen readers to navigate or access text—all learners will benefit. Accessible content is easier for everyone to use. It is clear and easy to navigate.

Download free book here: http://elgd.co/ebook-acc17-liel2

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more on ebook in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=ebook

more on accessibility in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=accessibility

05
Apr
2017

oped ed resources

categories: Bring Your Own Device BYOD

The open educational resources movement is redefining the concept of online textbooks

The movement is also aiming to reimagine and democratize learning technologies.

By SUZANNE BOWNESS | April 4, 2017
http://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/open-educational-resources-movement-redefining-concept-online-textbooks/

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more on etextbooks in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/04/06/e-textbook-ad-hoc-team/

06
Apr
2016

E-textbook ad hoc team

categories: instructional technology

purpose: draft a document for the provost to plan for charting the future goal 3.12 “develop a comprehensive strategy to increase awareness and development of e-textbooks and open educational resources (OERs)”

\\STCLOUDSTATE\HuskyNet\DeptFiles\LRS\ETextbooks

SCSU goal: to reduce the cost of textbooks as an affordable learning initiative. Amount of reduction is undetermined

my notes based on the material below:

  1. best, most applicable source for the purpose of this research: U of Alberta Committee’s notes on the learning environment:
    http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/en/GeneralFacultiesCouncil/CommitteeontheLearningEnvironm/~/media/Governance/Documents/GO05/LEA/15-16/WEB/Item-4-eTextbook-Subcommittee-Report-CLE-TLAT.pdf
    the Canadians are using (citing) Acker (Ohio) in their research.
  2. best, most applicable source in terms of the logistics on e-texbooks creation and its pedagogical argumentation is this document from New Zealand: https://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group-7/guidelines-for-developing-interactive-etextbooks-on-net-tablets.pdf
  3. According to Bossaler et al (2014), it might be worth considering that SCSU (MnSCU?) must go first through implementing of e-text[books] in courses first by using publisher materials and then by using “in-house” produce. At this point, SCSU does NOT have an aligned policy of integrating e-texts in courses across campus. Lack of such experience might make a strategy for adoption of e-textbooks much more complex and difficult to implement
  4. stats are colored in green for convenience. Stats regarding the increase in textbook costs are re-printed from author to author: e.g. Acker (2011, p. 42). Murey and Perez (2011, p. 49 (bottom) – 50 (up)) reports stats from 2009 and projections for 2013 regarding etexbook adotion. Same authors, p. 50 second paragraph reports good stats regarding texbooks’ price increase : US$1122 per year for textbooks in 2010.
  5. Wimmer at al (2014) presents a lucid graphic of the structure of the publishing process (see bottom of this blog entry for citation and perm link).
  6. Wimmer at al (2014) discusses copyright and permissions, which is of interest for this research (p. 85)
  7. regarding in-house creation of e-textbooks, see (Distance education, e-learning, education and training, 2015). It very much follow the example of SUNY, which Keith was laying out: a team of faculty charged with creation the e-textbook for mass consumption.
    Besides the SUNY model Keith is envisioning for MnSCU (comparable), there is the option of clustering OER sources: e.g. NASTA as per Horejsi (2013), CourseSmart. FlatWorld Knowledge (Murrey and Perez, 2011) etc.
  8. Hamedi & Ezaleila (2015) present an entire etextbook program. Article has been ordered through ILL. Same with Joseph (2015).
  9. Open Educational Resources in Acker (2015, p. 44-47). Also in Murey and Perez (2011, p. 51).
    Also in ICWL (Conference) (13th : 2014 : Tallinn, E., & Cao, Y. (2014): OpenDSA
  10. Different models of pricing also in Acker (2015, p. 48). Keith touched on that
  11. students learn equally well from etextbooks as from paper ones: Taylor (2011)
  12. pedagogy

responses from colleagues:

Scott Robison, sarobison@mail.plymouth.edu: sparc-liboer@arl.org listserv
Jeff Gallant, Jeff.Gallant@usg.edu: David Ernst with the U and Ashley Miller from Ohio State U: dernst@umn.edu. Ashley’s is miller.6275@osu.edu.

definition e-textbook and

an electronic version of a printed book that can be read on a computer or handheld device designed specifically for this purpose.

Definition of: e-book

my note: there is no good definition about e-textbook in terms of the complexity, which e-textbook on campus might involve.
Considering Wimmer et al (2014) account on their campus experience in publishing e-textbook, a textbook may involve an LMS (Canvas) and blog (WordPress). Per my proposal during the F2F meeting, and following Rachel’s suggestion about discrimination of the different types of e-textbooks, here is an outline of e-textbook definition:

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working definition for e-textbook for the purposes of SCSU:
e-textbook is a compilation of textual, multimedia and interactive material, which can be viewed on various electronic devices. E-textbook can: 1. be purchased from a publisher; 2. compiled in HTML format on faculty or group web space; 3. compiled on the content module of LMS (BB, D2L, Canvas, Moodle, etc.) 4. compiled on LMS (BB, D2L, Canvas, Moodle, etc.) and including all interactive materials: e.g. hyperlinks to MediaSpace multimedia, quizzes, etc.; 5. compiled on special apps, such as iBook Author, eCub, Sigil.

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e-book

(Electronic-BOOK) The electronic counterpart of a printed book, which can be viewed on a desktop computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet or e-book reader (e-reader). When traveling, a huge number of e-books can be stored in portable units, dramatically eliminating weight and volume compared to paper. Electronic bookmarks make referencing easier, and e-book readers may allow the user to annotate pages.

Although fiction and non-fiction books come in e-book formats, technical material is especially suited for e-book delivery because it can be searched. In addition, programming code examples can be copied, which is why CD-ROMs that contained examples or the entire text were often packaged inside technical paper books.

E-Book Formats

Wimmer, Morrow, & Weber: Collaboration in eTextbook Publishing


There are several e-book formats on the market, including EPUB, Mobipocket (PRC, MOBI), eReader (PDB), Kindle (AZW, KF8) and Apple iBook (EPUB variation). Many e-readers also accept generic formats, including Adobe PDF and plain text (TXT).

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/42214/e-book
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Electronic Textbooks or Paper Textbooks: What Are Students Reading?
https://www.natcom.org/CommCurrentsArticle.aspx?id=3842
According to a United States Government report, textbook prices have increased at over twice the rate of inflation in the last couple of decades. According to another report, the average student spends between $700 and $1,000 per year on textbooks while the cost of e-textbooks can be as much as 50% lower than paper textbooks.

Oxford dictionary, an electronic book or e-book is “an electronic version of a printed book that can be read on a computer or handheld device designed specifically for this purpose.” An e-textbook is defined as an e-book used for instructional or educational purposes and often includes features such as bookmarking, searching, highlighting, and note-taking as well as built-in dictionaries and pronunciation guides, embedded video-clips, embedded hyperlinks, and animated graphics.

E-textbooks have moved from occasional usage to a mainstream technology on college campuses. According to the Association of American Publishers, sales of e-books hit over $90 million; this is up over 200% when compared to the same month the previous year. When the cost of textbooks and the availability of formats are considered, the use of an e-textbook in the classroom may be the reasonable choice.

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A digital textbook is a digital book or e-book intended to serve as the text for a class. Digital textbooks may also be known as e-textbooks or e-texts. Digital textbooks are a major component of technology-based education reform. They may serve as the texts for a traditional face-to-face class, an online course or degree.
The concepts of open access and open source support the idea of open textbooks, digital textbooks that are free (gratis) and easy to distribute, modify and update
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_textbook
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Exploring Students’ E-Textbook Practices in Higher Education

Authors: by Aimee Denoyelles, John Raible and Ryan Seilhamer Published: Monday, July 6, 2015. Instructional Designers, University of Central Florida
According to the United States Government Accountability Office, prices have increased 82 percent from 2002 to 2012.3 This cost sometimes drives students to delay or avoid purchasing textbooks. Digital materials such as e-textbooks may offer a more cost-effective alternative.4 Also, the expectation for digital materials is gaining strength in the K–12 sector.5 For example, Florida school districts set a goal to spend at least half of classroom material funding on digital materials by the 2015–2016 school year. Given that 81 percent of first-time-in-college (FTIC) undergraduate students hailed from a Florida public high school during the fall 2014 semester at the University of Central Florida (UCF), it is important to anticipate student expectations of digital materials. Finally, the availability of digital materials has risen exponentially with the incredible popularity of mobile devices.

Key Issues

Despite the advantages that e-textbooks pose, such as interactive features and accessibility on mobile devices, several barriers exist regarding implementation in higher education, namely non-standardization of the platform, limited use by students, and the unclear role of the instructor in adoption.

a survey questionnaire in 2012 that explored basic usage and attitudes regarding e-textbooks.

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Bossaller, J., & Kammer, J. (2014). Faculty Views on eTextbooks: A Narrative Study. College Teaching, 62(2), 68-75. doi:10.1080/87567555.2014.885877

http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3dkeh%26AN%3d95094045%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite

Implementing eTexts into a Course:

  1. planning
  2. developing
  3. implementing
  4. delivering

This qualitative study gives insight into the experiences instructors have when working with publishers to integrate electronic content and technology into their courses.

Baek, E., & Monaghan, J. (2013). Journey to Textbook Affordability: An Investigation of Students’ Use of eTextbooks at Multiple Campuses. International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 14(3), 1-26.

http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1017493 

the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (2007) reported that textbook prices represent a significant barrier to students’ accessibility to textbooks. The report concluded that textbooks cost between $700-$1000 per year; textbook prices have risen much faster than other commodities; and that college aid fails to cover textbook expenses. Textbook costs are equivalent to 26% of tuition costs for an average four-year public university student and 72% of tuition costs for an average community college student. In fact, the California State Auditor (2008) reported that textbook costs grew more rapidly than student fees in academic year 2007–08.

baekbaek

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Wimmer, E. e., Morrow, A. a., & Weber, A. a. (2014). Collaboration in eTextbook Publishing: A Case Study.Collaborative Librarianship, 6(2), 82-86.
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Wimmer, Morrow, & Weber: Collaboration in eTextbook Publishing

Distance education, e-learning, education and training. (2015). Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine, 53s557-s559. doi:10.1515/cclm-2015-5015

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the creation of an interactive e-book called “Practical Clinical Chemistry: core concepts” was accomplished using the
Apple Macintosh platform and the iBooks Author software. Digital content, including videos, was developed for the
project and embedded within the final package. In order to limit the size of the final files, some content was uploaded

onto Youtube so that the user could access these via the internet.

The e-book, 200MB in size, was uploaded onto the Apple ITunes site and made available in 51 countries via the
iBooks store. This prototype is the first interactive digital textbook available in clinical chemistry and contains “4-
dimensional” content including digital images, videos, interactive presentations, real-time data generation as well as
review questions with instant feedback and assessment.
Hamedi, M., & Ezaleila, S. (2015). Digital Textbook Program in Malaysia: Lessons from South Korea. Publishing Research Quarterly, 31(4), 244-257. doi:10.1007/s12109-015-9425-4
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Joseph, R. (2015). Higher Education Book Publishing-from Print to Digital: A Review of the Literature. Publishing Research Quarterly, 31(4), 264-274. doi:10.1007/s12109-015-9429-0
Acker, S. R. (2011). Chapter 6: Digital Textbooks. Library Technology Reports, 47(8), 41-51. http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3daph%26AN%3d69736260%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite
the author reflects the process on a state level (Ohio).
Daniel, D. B., & Woody, W. D. (2013). E-textbooks at what cost? Performance and use of electronic v. print texts. Computers & Education, 6218-23. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.016 http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3daph%26AN%3d85613911%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131512002448
Marcoux, E. “. (2012). Best of the Best Planning. Teacher Librarian, 39(4), 69-70.
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Taylor, A. K. (2011). Students Learn Equally Well From Digital as From Paperbound Texts. Teaching Of Psychology, 38(4), 278-281. doi:10.1177/0098628311421330
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Much of the research related to digital texts has focused ontechnical aspects of readability (see Dillon, 1992, for a review) and limitations of digital media for note-taking, underlining, or highlighting text (Brown, 2001). However, the important—and unanswered—question from a teaching perspective is, ‘‘Can students learn as well from digital texts as from paperbound textbooks?’’ Few published studies have addressed this ques-tion directly, and even fewer studies have examined this ques-tion among college students.
Murray, M. C., & Pérez, J. (2011). E-Textbooks Are Coming: Are We Ready?. Issues In Informing Science & Information Technology, 849-60.
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read the entire article, good data.
CourseSmart. FlatWorld Knowledge,

Horejsi, M. (2014). Textbooks 2.0. Science Teacher, 81(3), 8. http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3daph%26AN%3d94603788%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite

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pedagogy

two Eastern Europeans (Moldova, Serbia) raise serious concerns about electronic textbooks
Španović, S. (2010). PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF E-TEXTBOOKS. Odgojne znanosti. 12(2). 459-470.

Railean, E. (2015). https://prezi.com/sbidiadctrzo/beyond-textbook-digital-textbook-use-and-development/

http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/en/GeneralFacultiesCouncil/CommitteeontheLearningEnvironm/~/media/Governance/Documents/GO05/LEA/15-16/WEB/Item-4-eTextbook-Subcommittee-Report-CLE-TLAT.pdf :

  • (Un)desirable features in etextbooks
  • How etextbooks might affect course delivery
  • Pilot projects that can help build institutional expertise
  • Address how and where insights gained from pilot projects will be collected and
  • made available
  • People resources (e.g., instructional designers) that will be needed to assist
  • instructors to use this technology

ICWL (Conference) (13th : 2014 : Tallinn, E., & Cao, Y. (2014). New horizons in web based learning: ICWL 2014 international workshops, SPeL, PRASAE, IWMPL, OBIE, and KMEL, FET, Tallinn, Estonia, August 14-17, 2014, revised selected papers. Cham: Springer.

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MnSCU will by as Content Authoring Tool – SoftChalk. Here is a promo from Softchalk (my bold):

NEW SoftChalk Create 10 and SoftChalk Cloud eBook publishing features will arrive on April 25th! Come check out the latest enhancements at our upcoming webinars!

Sleek Designer Headers and Callout Boxes – Add some new pizazz to your SoftChalk lessons!

Three New Quiz Types – Test your students’ understanding with Sentence Completion, Multiple Blanks and Feedback Questions.

Polished New QuizPopper and Activity displays – With an enhanced interface for instructors and students.

Accessibility enhancements – Make your lessons available to everyone with even more accessibility enhancements.

NEW SoftChalk Cloud eBook creation and publishing – Includes a totally re-vamped, easier eBook creation and management. New SoftChalk eReader apps available for free download in the iOS, Android, Chromebook and Windows app stores. (Cloud Only)

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The future of textbooks looks like this

By Meris Stansbury, Managing Editor, @eSN_Meris
February 22nd, 2016

are any faculty really going digital? Which content distributors will thrive? What are the implementation concerns? And when will going digital really happen?

two massive surveys and reports by the National Association of College Stores (NACS) and the Independent College Bookstore Association (ICBA) in partnership with the Campus Computing Survey (CCS),

24
Feb
2016

open educational resources

categories: Digital literacy, information technology, instructional technology, Project Based Learning, student-centered learning, technology literacy

A Librarian’s Guide to OER in the Maker Space

http://www.slj.com/2015/10/technology/a-librarians-guide-to-oer-in-the-maker-space

OER are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits sharing, accessing, repurposing—including for commercial purposes—and collaborating with others. They include educational materials, such as lesson plans, games, textbooks, tests, audio, and video. In addition to being free, these no-cost teaching and learning materials are available online for anyone to use, modify or share with others.This use, reuse, and remixing of instructional materials is a powerful way to gain and share knowledge. Because OER are customizable and flexible, they can be used very effectively to support students to achieve their learning goals.

OER Commons is a digital library where educators can find resources to develop, support and amplify their maker space practices. The site is searchable by subject, grade level or standard. Users can also filter results to include topics, such as activities and labs, games, videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools.

Related blog entry:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/02/22/libraries-and-learning/

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