Open Textbooks
Editor’s note: This blog entry was written by Lisa Minetti, Curriculum Design and Assessment Specialist at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies.
Flat World Knowledge offers a new approach to textbooks: open them up and bundle them with social learning tools. Founded by Jeff Shelstad and Eric Frank, two former textbook industry executives, Flat World Knowledge’s mission statement reads:
We preserve the best of the old – books by leading experts that are rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards. Then we flip it all on its head. Our books are free online. We offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – print, audio, by-the-chapter, and more. Our books are open for instructors to mix, mash, and make their own. Our books are the hub of a social learning network where students learn from the book and each other.
While the content of their Open Textbooks is free and accessible to all, they charge for convenient ways to consume the Open Textbooks (print, audio, PDF) and efficient ways to study (study aids). Most interesting of all, IMHO is their description the social learning tools:
Students can chat live with other readers, take and share digital notes, set up study groups, and even find partners for cross border projects. They can do all of this at our site or tap into the collaborative features of Facebook using our Facebook app for this. They are part of a global community of learners. Or not. Their call.
To read more about Flat World Knowledge, browse through their website or check out this article from Wired’s blog network. Potential authors can learn more about joining the “little textbook revolution” on Flat World Knowledge’s website.
Wonder if anyone at Penn might like to pilot a project with a Flat World text? LPS Online would be very interested in talking with faculty members about the possibilities. Email me if you’d like to chat.
