Networks promoting open content believe in a philosophy of creating a community of collective understanding, insight, and experience that is shared with others. Open content allows users to modify textbooks to customize, modernize, and combine them with other materials to create a tailored learning resource. The Four R’s of open content address licensing or permission rights and are defined as the ability to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the materials.
It is important, when using open content, to find useful resources, to assess the quality of the content, and repurpose the materials for learning. Most teachers customize open content resources. The ongoing use of open content may decrease teacher workload in developing coursework and educational materials. Schools are beginning to feel a social responsibility to share content. It is now a mark of a world-class institution to share content, not merely an experimental practice to do so.
Free content is any kind of work or creative content that meets the definition of a free cultural work. Free cultural work has no significant legal restriction on people’s freedom to use or redistribute the work. Free content can be used and studies with users free to apply what is learned from the content. Users can copy and distribute free content and can change and improve the content, distributing the modified work. Free content includes all work that is in the public domain and copyrighted works whose licenses have expired.
Creative Commons is a website that has created an infrastructure for sharing one’s creative work while enabling the user to preserve their identity. It has developed tools to help individuals determine what type of copyright license they want to apply to their creative work. Various types of copyright licenses are available, to permit commercial use or not, to permit derivative work or not, and to share alike or not. These license types can be combined, allowing the individual to refine the level of copyright that they determine is appropriate for their work, and as open or restricted as selected by the individual.
Johnson, Adams and Haywood (2011) identify the Open High School of Utah, as an example of how open content is used today in schools. The school’s mission purports their focus to be on student centered learning using innovative technology while promoting personal responsibility. David Wiley, a professor at Brigham Young University and founder of the Open High School of Utah, has made it his mission to promote lower cost, high quality education. I was fortunate to locate a slideshow presentation of Professor Wiley’s on the cost and use of textbooks in education. The slideshow presentation is available on SlideShare, an online community for sharing presentations.
Flat World Knowledge provides electronic textbooks for open use that launched five years ago as an ambitious start up. In January 2013 Flat World discontinued offering free access to electronic textbooks, citing increasing costs and maintaining that their $19.95 access pass is still a reasonable alternative to the cost of textbooks. Their announcement was met with some critics who accused them of trying to artificially drive down the cost of textbooks and questioning their credibility. What the future holds for Flat World and the availability of free open content remains to be seen, but Flat World has been a trailblazer in open content, and as the demand for accessible, affordable open content increases, there are sure to be competitors entering the marketplace.
The increased use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablet devices has contributed to the increase in the popularity of electronic textbooks. The use of these devices makes the materials easily accessible, portable, and also available on multiple devices. Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, and Haywood, (2011) note that the University of Phoenix requires their faculty to assign electronic texts. As more educational institutions promote their use, increase in the electronic books will grow. Standards for eBooks are still in development, with the current focus on the text itself and not on interactivity.
Johnson et al (2011) suggest tremendous potential for interactive and immersive applications of electronic textbooks. One such example is Alice, an interactive reading application that engages the reader in the storytelling narrative experience. Learn more about Alice and other products developed by IDEO by watching their video The Future of the Book.
Open or free content, public domain, copyrights? It can be confusing to know what resources are free to use, and are worth using for learning. Organizations like Creative Commons aim to simplify issues of copyright licensing in the hopes that more creative works and materials will be shared. Sharing of resources is a common thread linking organizations and websites that promote and foster the use of open content. The use of shared and modified free and open content for learning and eBooks will continue to grow. Technology will evolve to support these trends as educators and students alike look to reduce costs, find high quality accessible learning materials, and share and collaborate in new and innovative ways.
References
Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., (2011). The NMC Horizon
Report:
2011 K-12 Edition.
Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Johnson,
L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011
Horizon Report.
Austin, Texas: The New Media
Consortium.
Marie,
ReplyDeleteYou present a great summation of the material for class this week. I'm really interested in seeing how this all plays out over the course of the next 10-20 years. In my office just last week, we were having extensive conversations about the costs of text books-- often totaling over $1,000 per semester. Professors are often not aware of the actual cost of books as they often receive the book for free from the publisher. While they're simply using what they think will be the best learning experience for the class, they may not be realizing the the cost of the books is so exorbitant. Utilizing open content and electronic books may provide a ways for teachers to reduce the cost to their students while also providing a much more interactive and enhanced learning environment.
Not only does cost factor in, but the interactivity of these newer resources helps promote better learning teaches students technological skills that will help them for years to come. You also make a great point on the use of tablet computers and mobile devices. Much of what students do these days are done on these types of devices-- sometimes typing whole papers on the cell phone. I think as technology continues to grow, providing students with skills to use an adapt to changing technology will be an important part of learning.