An Introduction to Open Source Textbooks
Professors and students are calling for a textbook
revolution. The truth is, the printed textbook is too expensive for ordinary
students on a budget. The printed book industry has held a monopoly for decades
and therefore, had the capability to make textbook prices rise exponentially.
This is why open source textbooks are coming at a time when students are
looking for alternatives.
The term was first coined to refer to software, meaning
other developers can view and use the code for their own use. When you use the
same word for textbooks, this means learning materials that can be viewed and
edited by other professors for their own classes.
How Does it Work?
Open source material doesn't go through the rigorous
writing, editing and publishing process that printed books do. It books the
risk of not being properly researched before being used. Because of this,
universities are leading the way to creating these learning materials that
still keeps the accuracy of the information. Professors are being tapped and
paid to write the content for open source books oftentimes supported by the university
or other donors.
Professors can also make money whenever these materials are
printed. So students and teachers looking for content to be used for classes,
make sure you look for ones that are developed by universities to ensure the
quality of content.
Because these types of books are developed and made
available online, technology can be utilized by these forms of learning
materials. For example, Apple has developed their own iBooks author, making it
easy for anyone to design their own content to be viewed on iPads everywhere.
Once an author is done with the open source learning material, they can be
uploaded on "bookstores" or online learning databases to be accessed
by students and professors. Open source materials are also being called greener
as no trees are cut down to produce paper and printed books. A student or
professor can just choose which ones to print.
Writers who are worried about copyright should also not be
worried about licensing, as there are still options to protect their content.
The main difference is that they can still choose to allow certain uses of
their materials. For the Academe, being allowed to use these content for free
can help professors enrich their lessons and make it more interactive and
up-to-date, since there is no more waiting for new editions to come out.
In short, open source textbook adoption a win-win scenario
for both professors and teachers. Information is available online, for a low
price or for free, and can be used for personal or educational purposes.Visit https://www.alduspress.com/
Jules Mariano is a full-time freelance search engine and
social media marketing specialist and a web developer specializing in web
content development. He is the co-founder of VPRO Digital Marketing. He
currently writes for BookGator.
No comments: