Open Content & E-Books

OPEN CONTENT

As an educator I have utilized open content material without truly understanding its definition and evolvement. Educators like myself often attend workshops, collaborate with colleagues and search the web for innovative ways to teach lessons. Before reading the Horizon Report 2011, I did not grasp how cost effective this means of collaboration really was. David Wiley’s vision for Open Content defined with the 4Rs, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute is now crystal clear. It was not until I reviewed the Creative Commons website that I understood the symbols related to copyrights and licenses. The Wikipedia page on free content provides a list of symbols related to copyrights that are useful when reviewing information that you may want to customize. Offering materials to customize and adapt without copyright infringements and fees is one of the best things that has happened in the world of technology for Educators. There are several innovations and concepts related to Open Content that really caught my attention.

The benefits of Open Content for all people not only in the United States are great. I’ve traveled to South Africa during my undergraduate years and was honored to travel with a reputable company that donated supplies and textbooks to several schools there. At that time receiving outdated textbooks was a tremendous blessing for those students. Now with open content materials I’m pleased to know that countries such as South Africa utilize these materials without the hassle of regulations and fees.

Big industry companies and government establishments taking part in the world of Open Content is a great step for citizens to have access to information that once was not available. I was please to watch the YouTube video of Mayor Newsom speaking with the woman that now has employment because of the growing program utilizing Open Content at the San Francisco Public Libraries. Karen Coyle’s article, Going Open mentioned that one library alone was releasing approximately 3 million bibliographical records using Creative Commons licenses. Government meetings and events available on the Internet shows the creditability and advancement of Open Content since 1998. It is now evident to many more corporations and governments just how useful Open Source is for daily operations.  The more people who have access the better for all of us.

E-Books

The availability of eBooks is related to just about every subject imaginable is a great tool to utilize for personal and professional needs.  As a graduate student, educator and mother E-books are great to add to my toolkit of resources in all of my endeavors. Mike Solomon mentioned several key aspects in utilizing E-books during his podcast interview. As a professor and authur he decided to use Flat World Knowledge, a publisher of textbooks. He decided to create E-books for the courses he taught because they would be accessible for students all around the world. He was able to customize the textbook based on his teaching style and order of his choice unlike a traditional textbook having to add supplemental materials. The cost is free for his students to download online and he actually earns revenue based on the amount of people who utilize his package. I do not teach at a collegiate level but advantages of E-books are very clear for professional.

As a mother I’ve noticed that younger children often are entertained by learning games and hand held systems for entertainment while, tweens and teens visit social media sites and games not associated with learning. E-books are great to download for reasonable prices in an effort to capture the attention of children through “old fashion” literature presented in a new format that does not require a special book reading devices.

Having a background in Special education e-books are great for accommodating people with special needs due to the fact that the book are downloaded on the devices accessible for them. Whether it’s an android smart phone, tablet or personal computer e-books can be dictated, magnified or reviewed with the accommodating software a person with disabilities have on their system. There are several websites that are dedicated to provide eBooks for not only students for disabilities but eBooks that provide valuable information for parents of children with disabilities. Not all parents have access or time to visit traditional books and are often overwhelmed by the multitude of books on disabilities. E-books created by specific councils and companies listed on their websites are great for parents to read summaries and find information that is specific to their needs. The National Center of Learning Disabilities, a site I use periodically to find resources for parents offer E-Books related to Response to Intervention, parents guides to understanding IDEA, Individualized Education Plans, tips related to specific disabilities and variety of other topics. Smart Planet offers E-books to service students with disabilities and free access to technology due to an award they received from the U.S. Department of Education Special Education Programs, which provides service for over 100,000 students with disabilities.

The rapid increase in E-books can only benefits people all around the world. E-books have passed the sales of hardcover books for several years now. Some people are not completely convinced that E-books are as great as I think they are according to blog comments on several websites. Some are applauded that anyone who feels they have an idea can print a “book” or what is being written and available of e-book sites are not in good taste or good reads for anyone, even books that were once banned from schools such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, or The Call of the Wild which are available in E-book form. I view searching for E-books the same as visiting the public library or going to the bookstore. You have a choice to view or purchase what you want, that is why every website has a small magnifying glass near a search box. Search for what appeases to you, why worry about the quality of prints you have no desire to read. The Association of American Publishers research shows that over 400 million e-books were sold in 2012. They mentioned that E-book sales have constantly increased in the last three years and will continue this pattern. USA Today mentioned that the number of E-books sold in 2013 was 43% more than the previous year but this trend has slowed down possibly due to the popularity of playing games and watching videos. After reading the Horizon Report 2011 edition I was taken aback that e-books are not as popular with scholars considering the majority of college professors have doctorate degrees in specific fields of study that I consider scholars. One can see the evolution of e-books since 2011 based on the increase of online classes and distance learning opportunities. Scholarly journals are now available in electronic form and means of researching have drastically transformed at the collegiate level down to elementary grades. There is a saying, “the wave of the future” that referred to ideas and products that appeared to be a trend that would inevitably prevail. That saying absolutely applies to Open Content and E-books. Technology does not back peddle but constantly progresses for the betterment of consumers.

E-Books are definitely the wave of the future and any book publishing companies that do not see the benefits of this format are doomed to obscurity. With the advances in technology that allow access to books on smart phones, tablets and computers, there will be many people who will not be interested in any reading material that is not available via E-Book.