A Review of Open Access Textbook Platforms

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Open educational resources or OER have been gradually evolved as a major source of learning materials. As one form of OER, open access textbooks can be used as official textbooks for classroom-based learning as well as online learning and distance learning. Through a review of six open access textbook platforms, this paper investigates the operation model of open access textbooks, including their set-up, sourcing and updating of contents, open licenses, usages, review and quality assurance. It is revealed that open access textbook platforms were usually initiated by universities and non-profit organizations, partnering with philanthropic foundations and government bodies. The 5Rs (retain, re-use, revise, re-mix and re-distribute) provision via open licenses is the distinguished advantage of open access textbooks, especially in enabling adaptation to cater for specific teaching and learning needs. Peer review is the common practices for ensuring the quality of textbooks. It is evidenced that open access textbooks together with other forms of OER have successfully driven the effective sharing of educational resources to make education well accessible to all.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationBlended Learning. Education in a Smart Learning Environment - 13th International Conference, ICBL 2020, Proceedings
EditorsSimon K.S. Cheung, Richard Li, Kongkiti Phusavat, Naraphorn Paoprasert, Lam-For Kwok
Pages114-125
Number of pages12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Event13th International Conference on Blended Learning, ICBL 2020 - Bangkok, Thailand
Duration: 24 Aug 202027 Aug 2020

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume12218 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Blended Learning, ICBL 2020
Country/TerritoryThailand
CityBangkok
Period24/08/2027/08/20

Keywords

  • Learning materials
  • Open access textbooks
  • Open educational resources
  • Open licenses
  • Textbooks

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