Driving Awareness, Adoptions, and Affordability

January 2010 Blog Posts (14)

Textbook Affordability Report

This report was written for adminsitrators at South Seattle Community College in 2009. It provides some background on the textbook affordability crisis, and outlines a host of possible solutions. Open access resources and library collaborations are among the suggested alternatives. Feel free to share with decision makers and faculty at your institutions!

http://sccopenaccess.pbworks.com/f/SouthTextbkReport.pdf

Added by Shireen Deboo on January 29, 2010 at 1:58pm — 6 Comments

Need your textbook information

We are gathering information on what textbooks are currently being used by our members. Please enter your information in the first blank row of this Google Doc about textbooks (commercial or open) that you are using or plan to use. You may enter the information anonymously if you prefer.

Added by Una Daly on January 26, 2010 at 11:20am — No Comments

Create a Free Custom Health Textbook

You can create a free custom health textbook for your students at the Disease Control Priorities Project. You can selecting and combining chapters from Disease Control Priorities, second edition, and Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors. You can customize the title page. The table of contents and pagination will be generated automatically.

The Disease Control Priorities Project editors have… Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 24, 2010 at 1:06pm — No Comments

OER Author Training Materials

The Connexions Project has added a new item titled: “Authoring Connexions Modules using Microsoft Word Documents” to its Connexions Documentation lens at: http://cnx.org/lenses/cnxorg/documentation

This training collection was written by Connexions Featured Author, winner in the HPC Cup for High Performance Computing education, and Houston Community College faculty member, Kenneth Leroy Busbee. It is designed… Continue

Added by Jacky Hood on January 15, 2010 at 9:37pm — No Comments

Apply Learning Theory for Online Course Textbook Selection

In his December 2009 JOLT article titled "Application of Contemporary Learning Theory to Online Course Textbook Selection," Mission College accounting instructor Gregory Mostyn offers suggestions "to improve online learning outcomes while simultaneously containing institutional and student costs. This may be particularly useful at the community college level, where the majority of online classes are offered and student… Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 15, 2010 at 12:02pm — No Comments

CA Community Colleges Chancellor's Office Textbook Affordability Initiative

Find out details about the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office Textbook Affordability Initiative.

Information includes:

* Chancellor’s letter to Presidents re Textbook Affordability

* Recommendations to Reduce Textbook Costs and Promote Student Access and Success

* Summits and Presentations

* Legislation and… Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 13, 2010 at 10:26pm — No Comments

Ohio Textbook HQ

Ohio Textbook HQ provides "Getting Started with Digital & Open Educational Resources (OER)."

"As part of its ongoing effort to save students money on textbook costs, the University System of Ohio encourages faculty to make use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in their courses. OER are educational materials that are made freely available for anyone to access, share, and refine for their own… Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 13, 2010 at 10:03pm — No Comments

How to write Your Own Open Textbook

Interested in writing your own open textbook? Take a look at today's blog posting by Leigh Blackall that tells how to use WikiEducator and Lulu to make it happen - "How to produce, publish and distribute a textbook these days"

Added by Judy Baker on January 13, 2010 at 4:20pm — No Comments

News and information about open textbooks

For up-to-the-minute news and information about open textbooks and open educational resources, please visit @OER_center on Twitter.

Added by Judy Baker on January 13, 2010 at 10:47am — No Comments

New CA Law Requires Digital College Textbooks by 2020

New California law requires digital college textbooks by 2020 - Ventura County Star http://bit.ly/4pQDhO

Added by Judy Baker on January 11, 2010 at 7:36pm — 2 Comments

Helpful Chart that Compares eBooks with Open Textbooks

A fall 2009 report by Noe M. Cisneros of the Education Commission of the States (http://www.ecs.org), titled "State Initiatives Regarding Electronic or Open Source Textbooks,' has a helpful chart that compares ebooks with open textbooks. The report also lists the following examples of Open Textbook Projects:

1. The California Open Source Textbook Project is a…

Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 11, 2010 at 3:59pm — 1 Comment

Two more open textbooks receive high marks!

Two more open textbooks receive high marks. Marc Barnhill (City University of New York) reviewed "Rhetoric and Composition: A Guide for the College Writer" (2009), and Christine Sibley (Ohlone Community College) reviewed "The Process of Research Writing" (2007)”. These books, reviewed chapter by chapter on 13 separate criteria, received an overall average of 4.5/5.0 and 4.8/5.0 respectively. View these and over 60 other reviews at… Continue

Added by Bill Buxton on January 5, 2010 at 6:42pm — No Comments

Overview of U.S. academic textbook marketing politics

For an overview of U.S. academic textbook marketing politics, see Andrea James' Guest Blog on Boing Boing, "Prescription for consumers challenging academic textbook cartels."

Added by Judy Baker on January 3, 2010 at 9:30pm — No Comments

"Evaluating and Choosing Textbooks" by M.E. Lepionka

In her paper titled "Evaluating and Choosing Textbooks," Mary Ellen Lepionka offers offers many insights into textbook adoption. She is the author of Writing and Developing Your College Textbook, 2nd Edition (Atlantic Path Publishing, 2008) and Writing and Developing College Textbook Supplements (Atlantic Path Publishing, 2005). She also conducts workshops on academic… Continue

Added by Judy Baker on January 1, 2010 at 6:24pm — No Comments