eTextbooks: open and growing

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What is a textbook these days?

Recast overseas texts with Australian cases inserted international solutions

Single authors Co-creation with students

Incourse use MOOCSPrinted texts Online labs/educational

learning packages

Some thoughts and challenges

• What is it academics want to deliver through a text book?

• A case study

• Open is…

• Should we

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Based on evidence based course design• “read-think-discuss-listen-review”

• Influenced by peer construction model

• Teams formed in class to investigate with seeds

• Detailed observations to assess changes in response to environmental factors

• Peer mentors support the teams

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The plant detectives: innovative undergraduate teaching to inspire the next generation of plant biologistsElizabeth A. Beckmann1, Gonzalo M. Estavillo2, Ulrike Mathesius3, Michael A. Djordjevic3 and Adrienne B. Nicotra3*

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2015.00729/full

Course eTextbook

• Continuous improvement cycle within class

• High satisfaction - clear expectations, effective learning activities, ready access to learning opportunities, appropriate assessment, and overall satisfaction.

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Students progressing to honours

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• “… one of the most memorable courses of my whole degree.”• “I loved [this course] and have already recommended it to my first-

year friends.”• “One of the most interesting and influential courses I have taken in

my degree.”• “This was the best course I have taken so far during my time at

university, not only for the academic/scientific knowledge I gained, but for the invaluable lessons regarding the importance of team work and interpersonal relationships.” (Anonymous student feedback).

• Online use: Jan–June 2016: 113….a good start

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Jan–June 2016: 113Jan–June 2016: 113

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Open access and textbooks

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Impact studies

• adoption of no-cost open digital textbooks significantly predicted students’ completion of courses, class achievement, and enrolment intensity

• Virginia State University School of Business students using open textbooks “tended to have higher grades and lower failing and withdrawal rates than those in courses that did not use” the texts.

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Future

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Not the Book of the dead https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/BD_Hunefer.jpg

MOOCification

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_tower_of_used_books_-_8443.jpg

Changing the way we teachChanging the resources

5 minutes and no more

Interactivity in a new way

Opening up education

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https://pixabay.com/en/book-open-pages-literature-933280/

Online text lead to changes in classroom– McComas Taylor

Digital as pedagogy

Opening up education

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https://pixabay.com/en/book-open-pages-literature-933280/

Virtual labs, text books as educational packages

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https://pixabay.com/en/right-direction-next-road-sign-238369/