Open Textbooks in Higher Education Teaching

Abstract

Abstract Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning materials available under licensing terms that enable their use, sharing, reproduction, and often adaptation without needing further permission from the author or copyright holder. Whilst OER are available in many different formats, open textbooks—complete course books available on open licenses—have been particularly successful in facilitating widespread use of OER in some regions, such as North America. This chapter surveys the current extent and future potential use of open textbooks in Higher Education (HE), examining how open textbooks are used to address challenges in HE and describing opportunities for connecting and enabling institutional and extra-institutional communities through the use of open textbooks. While open textbook ecosystems are well developed in some countries, elsewhere the role of open textbooks remains emergent. This chapter examines the nuances in open textbook use and what lessons can be learnt from both more mature ecosystems and those where open textbook use remains limited.