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Using Free & Open Digital Texts with K-12 Readers:
Curating Quality Resources from Global Sources
#OpenEd20
Peggy Semingson, Ph.D., peggys@uta.edu
Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
*Template from SlidesCarnival
Blog: Virtual Gadfly
Slides: https://bit.ly/36u0HtUor http://virtualgadfly.com/?p=228

2.
Greetings!
I am Peggy Semingson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
(Literacy Studies)
The University of Texas at Arlington
Follow my social media: https://linktr.ee/peggysemingson
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ABSTRACT
During the global Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, issues of access to
educational resources became a prominent issue and challenge in K-12
settings. Even with the right technology hardware, access to digital
resources and texts became another challenge. As some public library
systems and/or school libraries were not open or nearby, access to digital
texts became necessary and vital to maintaining student's reading
skills and providing equity in reading. Prior to the pandemic, digital e-
texts have provided ways for readers to use mobile devices, tablets, and
other versatile resources to engage with reading.
https://sched.co/fCpk

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ABSTRACT
❧ Building on the idea of #keeplearning and #keepteaching, this session provides examples of free and
accessible e-texts and mobile apps that can be of use to K-12 readers, teacher educators, and librarians.
This session has a global focus and is specific to the Covid-19 pandemic in that young readers around the
world need broader access to digital text as learning shifted and continues to shift to online settings.
Additionally, text needs to be of quality to engage young readers across a wide variety of genres as does
the ability to access multilingual e-texts.
❧ Learn more about the wide variety of digital and multi-modal texts that become possibilities for reading
material for K-12 readers in virtual and home-school settings during and beyond the pandemic. K-12
students, educators, and families, who come from diverse language backgrounds need such access to
quality texts, tools, and resources to develop their literacy skills in engaging ways. Participants will be
provided a list of free digital reading titles, websites, and other resources that will help K-12 students’
literacy development. Ideas to build, remix, and create free digital texts for K-12 readers, including both
fiction and non-fiction will also be shared.
❧ Examples of library-sponsored resources, non-profit resources, and resources curated by the United
Nations will be curated and shared. Connections and alignment to the United Nations sustainable
development goals will be explored. Information will be posted to an open blog so that comments can be
made and resources can be easily shared.
❧ https://sched.co/fCpk

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
❧ Participants will familiarize themselves with the definition of quality
digital texts for K-12 readers.
❧ Participants will discuss characteristics of quality of free and
accessible e-text for K-12 readers including texts that focus specifically
on health literacy and Covid-19 topics in particular.
❧ Participants will design and develop ideas for integrating open digital
e-text for K-12 readers into teacher education courses, library
programs, nonprofit use, and other contexts.

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The Known: Successes and Challenges with e-texts (K-12)
Please type in the chat. Pick one or both to reply:
Q1: What are digital e-books or texts you have found
useful pre and during the pandemic? (K-12 or other)
Q2: What are indicators of quality for K-12 digital
(free/open) texts?

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Access is key!
Students need access to texts
Digital and FREE texts are especially useful during COVID.
Quality of texts is also important.
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8.
Quality is key!
Students need access to texts
Digital and FREE texts are especially useful during COVID.
Quality of texts is also important.
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We need more texts to help
fight the coronavirus
Information is power.
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10.
Health literacy texts
Health became a central focus during the pandemic as
we all became aware of global public health issues.
#stayhome
# keeplearning
#keepteaching

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Need for health literacy open and digital texts
❧ Immediate need to teach students about health.
❧ Need for digital and accessible texts at all levels.
❧ Informational text has been increasingly used in
schools (how to read non-fiction text), so timely.
Thoughts?--post in chat

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General K-12 Digital Texts
Truly OER

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Characteristics of quality OER digital texts (K-12)
❧ Licensing (e.g. Creative Commons)
❧ Multilingual
❧ Large enough font
❧ Quality pictures (not all text) for younger readers
❧ Considerations of mobile compatibility during the pandemic
(limited hardware): responsive to mobile device
❧ Accessibility (for visually impaired)
❧ Level of engaging text
❧ For non-fiction: accuracy of information
❧ What else? Post in chat

14.
General Digital OER and open Texts (K-12): Various licensing
Open Culture “Enter an
Archive of 6,000
Historical Children’s
Books, All Digitized and
Free to Read Online”
Free e-books
❏ K12 OER Textbooks
(secondary students)
❏ Public domain texts
❏ Public library resources (not
OER)
❏ Free books from publishers
(e.g., Audible, some
publishers, authors, etc.)

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Key sources of texts: General
Unite for Literacy (not open licensing
but can create similar texts):
https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
Beginning readers
Multilingual

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The Unite through Literacy website had two books specific to COVID19 ideas that are written at
about a kinder/early first grade reading level and free digital e-books.
Video (please share): Health Literacy through Unite for Literacy: Teaching Young Children about
Coronavirus & Handwashing
Below are two free e-books parents and caregivers can use and share about Covid-19 and
washing hands.Please share these as you see fit and if you wish to:
Covid-19
https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/featured/new/book?BookId=1858
Washing Your Hands
https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/featured/new/book?BookId=141

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Health-focused Digital
Open Texts (K-12)

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Examples: FREE COVID-FOCUSED Health Literacy Texts (K-12)
A Kid's Guide to Coronavirus
By Rebecca Growe, MSW, LCSW, and Julia Martin Burch, PhD
Illustrated by Viviana Garofoli
Unstuck! 10 Things to Do to Stay Safe
and Sane During the Pandemic
By Bonnie Zucker, PsyD
https://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/covid-19-help-kids-cope

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Free OER Creative Commons Licensed Texts (COVID-focused)
"I Love You"
NABU
Not being able to visit older relatives is a difficult
aspect of the pandemic that is addressed in this book.
(Available here)
"The Virus-Stopping
Champion"
NABU
A child superhero discovers how to curb the spread
of COVID-19 in this informative story. (Available
here)

20.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
https://www.un.org/sustainab
ledevelopment/sustainable-
development-goals/
#3: Good health and
well-being
#4: Help educate the
children in your
community.
COVID issue in particular is a “whole-of-
society”/whole-of-the-world issue
Source: U.N. Report
“ Trust in science and institutions are the
necessary vaccines against misinformation
that impedes the fight against the virus.” (p.
18)

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UNICEF: My Hero is You-How Kids can fight COVID-19!
ALso has Social-Emotional learning elements
"My Hero Is You"
UNICEF
This book from UNICEF offers guidance to help kids
understand and deal with life in the age of COVID-
19. (Available here)
©IASC, 2020. This publication was published under
the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO license (CC BY-
NC-SA 3.0 IGO;
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you
may reproduce, translate and adapt this Work for
non-commercial purposes, provided the Work is
appropriately cited.

22.
More Creative Commons’ Licensed Texts
Coronavirus: A Book for
Children
Click Here To Download
This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0
International License.
AUTHOR FREEMAN NG
The House We Sheltered In
https://www.authorfreeman.com/blog/sheltered/
“I’ve licensed the books and the poster with the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike license (BY-NC-SA) which means you’re free
to reproduce them and even modify them, as long as
it’s not for commercial purposes and you credit me as
the creator of the original work, and if you create new
work based on mine, you have to share it under the
same license.”

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#COVIBOOK
#COVIBOOK
Supporting and reassuring children
around the world
Dear families and educator all over the world,
I have created this short book to support and reassure our children,
under the age of 7, regarding the COVID-19. This book is an invitation
for families to discuss the full range of emotions arising from the current
situation. It is important to point out that this resource does not seek to
be a source of scientific information, but rather a tool based on fantasy.
My recommendation is to print this material so children can draw on it.
Remember that emotions are processed through repetitive play and
stories read multiple times. Share COVIBOOK and help ease kiddo's
anxiety all over the world.
With love,
Manuela Molina - the author
https://www.mindheart.co/de
scargables
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
LICENSE

24.
Free but unclear CC licensing
Tomorrow
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H5ysOzOUDU5N5_K3SA
obKZXYe2BpOlIa/view?usp=sharing
I Can be Safe and Healthy
https://nhfv.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/washing-
hands_story-english.pdf
Careless Corny: A Book for Kids
About the Coronavirus
https://www.chla.org/careless-corny-book-kids-about-
the-coronavirus
St. Jude: Learn about the
Coronavirus Coloring Book:
https://nhfv.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/04/cor
onavirus-for-kids-together-
coloring-book.pdf

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Curated resources (some are OER-all are free)
FREE eBooks about Coronavirus / COVID-19 (NYCDOE)
What other COVID-specific resources do you know
about? -CHAT

26.
Thoughts so far about the
texts?

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Ideas for preservice teachers
❧ OER COVID-Focused text as mentor texts and
inspiration.
❧ Creating health-literacy focused texts (building or
remixing OERs)
❧ Promoting free texts with students (OERs and more
generally free/accessible digital texts and audio
texts)

28.
Ideas for preservice teachers
#1: Content Creation related to
Literacy Learning
● Curation of literacy learning
content to share with others on
a blog or digital newsletter.
● Start a #stayathome focused
campaign via social media to
encourage people read at
home and read to and with
children.
● Create videos and/or podcasts
for educators and families on
how to foster literacy
development at home.
#2: Virtual Storybook Reading
● Digital storybook reading
with print book or e-books
(share screen)
● Record videos reading
books in public domain.
Share as podcast, unlisted
video, or publicly shared
video.
● Record reading with a child
● Record dialogue with a child
about a storybook
#3 Content Creation: Create a blog or
digital newsletter to gather resources
related to literacy learning (especially
free resources).
Explain what each resource is and how
it might be used.
Create videos and/or podcasts for
educators and families on how to
foster literacy development at home.
Share the resource broadly to your
family, friends, and social networks.

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#stayathome and read [social media campaign]
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Create digital storybooks with creative commons licensing
Example:
Using digital photos of your own to
narrate and
describe a series of images with lots of
good detailed text. If
you do a children’s book, be ultra-
descriptive and detailed
with generous amounts of text,
juxtaposed with digital images.
These images should be your own! The
text should model
good word choice, among other things.

31.
Ideas to Build/remix/create digital Texts
Ideas to build, remix, and create
free digital texts for K-12 readers
Google Slides
Storybird
Advanced: InDesign (Adobe)
What other tools do you know
of?
Post to the blog!
http://virtualgadfly.com/?p=2
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Also: Low-Tech Sharing Through Little Free Libraries!
Create a little free library.
“Recycle”/re-use books.
Another way to foster access in
a “micro” way.

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Thank you for joining!
Peggy Semingson
peggys@uta.edu
Slides:
Blog: http://virtualgadfly.com/