LibreTexts: Ful filling the 5R Dream Worldwide WCOL19 Halpern
1. The LibreTexts ProjectDelmar Larsen
Executive Director, Libretexts
Department of Chemistry
University of California Davis
Josh Halpern
Outreach Team Chair
jhalpern@libretexts.org
https://LibreTexts.org
https://facebook.com/LibreTexts
https://twitter.com/LibreTexts
info@libretexts.org
Biology Business Chemistry Engineering Geosciences Humanities
Math Health Physics Social Sciences Statistics Workforce
https://youtu.be/sxLmeHMgvTg
Twitter @JoshHalpern5
2.
3. Numerical Impact
• 80 million pageviews per year 9.5 million per month
• 33% increase over previous year
• Most visited OER project on the net (outside of Wikipedia)
• Alexa rankings (10-15-19): 5,770 (global), 1,830 (US) & 3,174 (India)
Support LibreNet Institutions
4. “Before writing off ChemWiki as something that can't possibly work in
practice, consider how Wikipedia was viewed when initially launched.
... the economic model on which the current system of textbook
publication is based may not remain viable for much longer. ChemWiki
offers an intriguing alternative”. -- Rich Apodaca (2008)
Idea
Conceived
NSF CCLI
Proposal
Rejected
NSF TUES
Proposal
Rejected
NSF TUES
Proposal
Rejected
NSF TUES
Proposal
Rejected
NSF TUES
Proposal
Funded
NSF IUSE
Proposal
Funded
Dept. of Ed
FIPSE
Funded
NSF IUSE
Proposal
Rejected
Dept. of Ed
FIPSE
Rejected
Dept. of Ed
FIPSE
Rejected
5. EdTech
Today’s Textbook Market
• Publishers profits and income are lower
• Publishers are transforming into EdTech companies
• Digitization substitutes AI homework sizzle for textbook steak
• Inclusive access to kill off online pdfs, rentals and used books
• OER is a potential disruptor – sustainability is key and unknown
June Jamrich Parsons – The 2017 Book Report – Text and Academic Authors Conference 2017 also updates at link
https://www.slideshare.net/junejamrichparsons/the-digital-book-report-2017-educational-publishing-and-edtech
7. Barriers to OER Adoption
• Not enough resources for my subject (49%),
• Too hard to find what I need (48%)
• There is no comprehensive catalog of resources (45%)
• Need an online homework systems and other support
Opening the Textbook - Babson Survey Research Group 2016
Onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/openingthetextbook2016.pdf
8. Our Mission
Implementing a Community built OER resource/
platform/portal that is Comprehensive and can be
Curated at multiple levels.
We need you
Free
No gaps, technically advanced
Living curated Library
9. Centralized vs. Decentralized Approaches:
Decentralized PlatformCentralized Platform
Efficient
High Stability
Pooled Resources
Effective Community Sharing
Lack of Local Control
Flexibile
Fragmented Ecosystem
Independent Resources
Inefficient
13. • Libraries span the undergraduate curriculum
• Can be used by faculty with minimal computer experience to
quickly create custom OER for their classes and students
• Facilitates collaborative and distributed OER building
• Instructors can remix and add content quickly and simply
• Advanced features eclipse PDF or paper-based books
• Zero cost to students and faculty
• A uniform cloud based infrastructure
• No local IT costs
• Enables analysis of student learning
• Allows data driven improvement OER to optimize learning
Why LibreTexts
14. Freeing the Textbook: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education- Babson Survey Research Group 2018
https://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/freeingthetextbook2018.pdf
Skipped Sections of the Textbook
Taught Topics in a Different Order
Replace Content with their Own Material
Replaced Content with Material from Other Sources
Corrected Inaccuracies in the Textbook
Revised Edited Material in the Textbook
Other
How Faculty Customize Textbooks
18. Base Membership
Single Sign On
Institutional Portals
Branding of Physical Texts
More than 10 Course Shells
One click ordering from LibreTexts Print Bookstore
Access to Development, Technology & Assessment Teams
Closed course annotation (hypothesis and note bene)
Advanced Membership
On Campus Training
Accessibility review
Support for OER construction
Ancillary materials (Homework systems, test banks, etc.)
Priority access to
Development, Technology & Assessment Teams
Public Access
OER Remixer access
Hosting of OER materials
Up to 10 course shells in a Campus Hub
Printing-on-demand Files for physical texts
Individual Annotations (hypothesis and note bene)
Sustaining the LibreNET Consortium
20. Accessibility – the right to READ the content
Uniform formatting allows rapid introduction of software across all Libretexts
Uniform formatting allow automation of accessibility improvement/implementation
Testing with SiteImprove for
• JAWS and NVDA screen reader optimization
• Improved from 40 to 70% within months and increasing
• Hypothes.is for annotation and feedback
• BeeLine Reader to enhance reading
• Jupyter for computation
(and to create 3D tactile models of Figures
• Choose paper size to print on A4 Letter Lulu
• Testing with ClaroRead
• Testing with Dragon for speech recognition
21. Availability – the right to REACH the content
• Cloud based IT through Mindtouch 99.4% uptime
• No local IT needed, web available
• Viewable on any HTML5 capable device
• All LibreTexts one click importable to local LMS via the LTI cartridge
• All pages one click printable as pdfs
• All LibreTexts books available as files from
on line Download Center for just in time printers
• LibreTexts-in-a Box where Internet
is not available
22. Join the LibreTexts Network
https://LibreTexts.org
jhalpern@libretexts.org
@JoshHalpern5
26. LibreTexts OER On Ramp
Attend
OER
Institute
Identify
Topics
Locate OER
for Topics
Evaluate
Create OER
Map for
Course
Identify
Gaps
Analyze
Accessibility
Identify
Course
Librarian
Create
LibreMap
Online Homework system (adaptive)
3D capabilities
Multimedia including videos and simulations
Numerical calculations infrastructure
Student tracking and assessment
Integrated annotation infrastructure