Title: Open textbooks: engaging education stakeholders to share learning resources

Authors: Simon K.S. Cheung; K.S. Yuen; K.C. Li; Eva Y.M. Tsang; Alex Wong

Addresses: Information Technology Unit, The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Hong Kong ' Educational Technology and Publishing Unit, The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Hong Kong ' University Research Centre, The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Hong Kong ' Educational Technology and Publishing Unit, The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Hong Kong ' University Research Centre, The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Hong Kong

Abstract: Open textbooks are by nature open education resources, which offer definite advantages over traditional printed textbooks, not only on content development and on subsequent revisions and updates but also in accommodating the students' learning differences. For successful development of open textbooks, a number of challenges had to be overcome, such as soliciting contributors of contents, assuring the quality, and establishing a culture of sharing educational resources. We propose a solution which includes four components: (1) platform for hosting the open textbooks; (2) textbook contents; (3) scheme for assuring the quality of textbooks; and (4) component is the support for continuous cultural building and capacity building. It is believed that open textbooks would effectively resolve the issues of high price and frequent revisions of textbooks, while offering many pedagogical advantages. Strategies for the sustainable development of open textbooks are also discussed.

Keywords: open textbooks; open education resources; textbook development; online sharing; resource sharing; learning resources; QA; quality assurance; textbook quality; cultural building; capacity building; e-books; e-textbooks; e-learning; online learning; electronic learning; electronic textbooks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2015.072433

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2015 Vol.10 No.4, pp.225 - 239

Received: 27 Feb 2015
Accepted: 04 Mar 2015

Published online: 13 Oct 2015 *

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