Books Without Boundaries

Possible Benefits & Problems of multi-platform publishing

Philip Wane School of Social Sciences

Do you author “books”?

• A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A book produced in electronic form is known as an electronic book (e-book).

• Many course materials are de facto books

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book

If creating de facto e-books…

• Like proper books you want them to be read

• Once upon a time paper handouts

• Then move to paper handouts + e-copies

• Increasingly electronic only (e-copies)

• Often Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF

• Often static text heavy documents (books)

• Often in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

Encouraging engagement?

• Questions? Are students likely to prefer:

• Reading large chunks of text on a screen

• Reading small chunks of text on a screen

• Enjoy looking at static documents

• Enjoy looking at more interactive documents

• Prefer reading stuff sat at a desktop computer

• Prefer reading stuff via mobile devices

E-books?

• Electronic books (Word, PDF & “proper” e-books)

• Engaging Enriched Enterprising books

• Best course materials no good if not read

• Electronic books offer options for – Increased interaction

– Editorial engagement (revision notes)

– Friendlier formats

– Lower costs

– Higher convenience

How?

• Make more of what you’ve got (Word & PDF)

• Break free from the VLE

• with services like ISSUU

• Most students love their mobile devices

• These are also great educational engines

• By design (like the iPad & eBook Readers)

• Or by good luck – mobile phones, iPods etc

Making more of Word & PDF

• Make more of what you’ve got

• Microsoft Word & Adobe PDF come with tools

• Show or remind students about these – Search contents

– Highlight text

– Add notes

– Track changes

– Share comments

– All great for study & revision (often overlooked?)

Microsoft Word Tools

Excerpt from Mod Doc

Excerpt from Mod Doc with Comments

Useful (free) Adobe Reader Tools

Escape from the VLE?

• Some great “publishing” services

• Re-present basic Word & PDF documents

• Many such services

• Ideal for computer based reading

• I use Issuu

• Easy to search for other uploads

• For example JISC Reports on Issuu

Web 2.0 Services such as Issuu

People read on the move

• Think of commuters who read

– Books, Papers & Magazines (+ work stuff)

• They read things on their

– Mobile Phones

– E-Readers

– iPads (& other tablets)

– Laptop computers

• If commuters can do it so can we in education

Fifty Shades?

Range of eBook Readers

• Dedicated readers such as

– Sony eBook

– Kindle

– Kobo

• De facto readers such as

– Smart phones

– iPads & other tablets

– Laptops & Desktops

Kindle

Upwardly Mobile?

• If our students are mobile consumers

• Should we not give them this option

• Create copies of course documents for mobile

• There are dedicated formats & devices

• Popular formats like Word & PDF also work

• Options to convert to ePub & other standards

• Apple’s iBooks anyone?

Open Educational Resources (OER)

• eBooks part of wider OER movement

• Option to licence under Creative Commons

• Some issues to be noted

– Option to simply distribute unlicenced

– Some platforms (Apple) licence issues

– Okay if free but issues if selling

– Needs to be addressed by institutions

– Plus copyright issues around sourced contents

Become an Editor as well as an Author

• Wikipedia provides a tool for creating books

• You can be the editor of a collection of articles

• All for free

• Copyright cleared

• Electronic or printed

• Want to know more?

What are Wikibooks?

• Books that can be created from Wikipedia

Wikipedia Book Creator

• Easy creation of Wikibooks

• Create electronic books in minutes*

• Popular formats including Adobe PDF files • *Real-time creation of a Wikibook in 4 minutes (& other videos) via Phil

Why might educators use them?

1. Free

2. Credible

3. Copyright cleared

• Furthermore…

• Customisable

• Easy to update and/or edit

• Wikibooks* are custom collections of articles • *Wikipedia Book Creations

Why might educators use them?

• Whatever other reasons (as per previous slide)

• Improve the educational experience

• Enhance the learning process

• Supply structured selections

• Complement other course materials

• Great for educators in widest sense

• Parents, peers & other de facto pedagogues

Examples of Actual Use

• Used to complement module materials

• E.g. PowerPoint, Word & Wikibook

Example of Actual Use (VLE)

• Providing alternative depths of support

Sample Table of Contents

Ideal in electronic or printed formats

So…

• Whilst observing the CC licence

• Quick to create

• Easy to re-edit

• Easily tailored to learning & teaching

• Electronic and/or printed formats

• Complements “core” materials

• Potential to become core materials

Wikipedia Book Creator

• Outputs in PDF or ODF format by default

• Update late September 2012 + ePub format

• Suitable for VLEs etc or printing for classes

• But is it really a book? Reminder… • A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made

of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A book produced in electronic form is known as an electronic book (e-book).

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book

Wikipedia Book Creator

• Users can also create actual books

Wikibooks from Pedia Press

Creative Commons + Print on Demand

Foreword from the Future?

Phil at EduWiki 2012

Thank you!

• Questions?

• These slides are available

• See short videos about Wikibooks

• http://www.philwane.com/wikibook.html

• Kindle & iBook Guides coming shortly…

• Please feel free to contact me at

• philip.wane@ntu.ac.uk

• Phone 0115 848 5587