Nobel Laureates in Lit are not in my Class

[Lisa Chamberlin]

I teach pre-college English online. My students are not English majors and it is doubtful that they will ever be interested in becoming the next Hemingway or even the next Stephen King. They just want to pass the minimum English requirements necessary for their particular certificate or degree program. In their eyes, everything else is busy work.

When I think about Open Textbooks and the ability to remix, reuse, and repurpose - this is where I get a little excited. Creative Commons licensing means I can pull a chapter here and a section there - cobbling together just what my students need. Instead of a tome meant to create future Nobel Laureates in literature, I can build an online composition guide meant to help future auto mechanics, nurses, turf managers, and cosmetologists be able to communicate in writing in a clear and concise way in eleven weeks.

Once I create it, others can use it, too. Or improve upon it. Or remix it.

Toni Morrison once wrote, "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Open textbooks are kind of like that. If there's a book you really need for a class, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must create it. (And, of course, put a Creative Commons license on it so others can use it, too).

[Judy Baker]

Well put! You put a whole other spin on this that I haven't considered. Thank you!