Abstract
Open education and sharing of Open Education Resources (OER) continues to evolve and adapt to the changing educational technology landscape and learner expectations. This chapter explores a case study documenting the transformation of two Charles Darwin University (CDU) Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) into a series of open textbooks hosted on the Pressbooks publishing platform. These open textbooks offer easy access to the OER materials in a variety of microlearning formats. No longer constrained by course requirements, learners bypass the need to enrol or register to view learning materials, which can be accessed at any time, and can complete as much or as little as they need. The ebook format also offers flexibility and accessibility through a range of download formats, multimedia, and print options.
MOOCs and open textbooks share much in common, making the transformation a relatively straightforward process. Both formats are fully online, open to anyone, and potentially reach a large audience. MOOC materials are already attributed with Creative Commons licensing where appropriate, and the existing course structure was key in informing the design and format of the ebook. A point of difference, however, is MOOCs are designed with scaffolded activities and a form of recognition for completion, which is not the case for open textbooks. Open textbooks provide organised information around topics and act as a reference or just-in-time learning, rather than a course. While there are opportunities to complete formative activities in open textbooks, these are not tracked but still provide valuable review and reflection of learning. The ability to create a microlearning format in an open textbook, including interactives and multimedia, allows for bite-sized learning around specific topics that can be completed quickly in 5-15 minutes.
For CDU, OER ebooks provide an effective and efficient way to share valuable resources from MOOCs that are no longer being formally offered. This case study illustrates how these MOOCs have been reimagined to provide free microlearning opportunities and contribute to self-directed learning.
MOOCs and open textbooks share much in common, making the transformation a relatively straightforward process. Both formats are fully online, open to anyone, and potentially reach a large audience. MOOC materials are already attributed with Creative Commons licensing where appropriate, and the existing course structure was key in informing the design and format of the ebook. A point of difference, however, is MOOCs are designed with scaffolded activities and a form of recognition for completion, which is not the case for open textbooks. Open textbooks provide organised information around topics and act as a reference or just-in-time learning, rather than a course. While there are opportunities to complete formative activities in open textbooks, these are not tracked but still provide valuable review and reflection of learning. The ability to create a microlearning format in an open textbook, including interactives and multimedia, allows for bite-sized learning around specific topics that can be completed quickly in 5-15 minutes.
For CDU, OER ebooks provide an effective and efficient way to share valuable resources from MOOCs that are no longer being formally offered. This case study illustrates how these MOOCs have been reimagined to provide free microlearning opportunities and contribute to self-directed learning.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Open Education Down UndOER |
| Subtitle of host publication | Australasian Case Studies |
| Editors | Ash Barber, Mais Fatayer, Rani McLennan, Alice Luetchford, Sarah McQuillen, Angie Williamson |
| Publisher | Council of Australian University Librarians |
| Chapter | 6 |
| Pages | 71-83 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |