Booktype, FLOSS Manuals & "eBooks: the learning platform of the future?" at Cetis 2014

I gave a presentation on how FLOSS Manuals uses Booktype and ePubs at a discussion panel at the Cetis 2014 conference. Here is Wilbert's write up of the panel. When does a book become a web platform.  This links to a lot of the work Adam Hyde has done around advocating for the use of epubs.

I also formulated a bit of an argument around epubs and OER (Open educational resources) which is posted as part of an email discussion on the Open Education email list here.

It's a bit simplistic but here's the essential argument. (excuse the ACRONYMS google is your friend here)

  • most OER are shared by the person / team that writes them
  • online courses, Moocs, OER repositories are increasingly the place where OER are collaboratively written using blog type, wysiswyg tools which output HTML pages
  • format specs like Scorm and metadata standards like LOM are too hard for self publishers to use
  • epubs are the most suitable candidate to allow importing and exporting of OER into these platform allowing us the freedom to exit and remix between repositories
  • EDUPUB is in danger of bringing a lot of complexity to the equation and hindering uptake
  • let's not get hung up on interactivity - let's get the workflow working with simple epubs first and use the web coding principle of "progressive enhancement" to bring more interactivity to OER
  • exported ePubs work well on mobile devices (just saying)
  • ePubs - all the way - let's advocate for all VLEs, MOOCs, Blogs etc to accept import and export of ePubs

Here are some quick links for the content mentioned in the presentation and discussion at the Cetis 2014 conference.

Tools