Glenda / Michelle, thanks for sharing this great open textbooks work in the Africa context. Congrats on this progress. I know how hard it is to insource development and production of books rather than simply outsource to a publisher. But it seems to me open textbooks provide a large array of benefits from academic freedom, to adaptation/localization/translation, to lower cost and more.
I’m particularly interested in the phenomenon of open textbooks and have lots of questions. Here are a few questions from me as I think about the path forward and wonder what you are thinking about too.
I wonder how you see your collection of open textbooks fitting in with the many other collections that have emerged. LibreTexts has their collection, Pressbooks has there collection, the Open Education Network has their collection, BCcampus has it’s own collection. Is there overlap? Are the open textbooks in these other collections relevant and useful for you in your South Africa context? Is there a need for some kind of all inclusive open textbook library? Or is it preferable that it be distributed and decentralized? Are you aiming to create an open textbooks library for Africa? It seems to me that there is potential for a consortia of open textbook initiatives to come together and collaborate.
I read your DOT4D Open Textbook Landscape Survey Report: University of Cape Town. It is interesting to see the insights.
How the definition of an ‘open textbook’ is malleable and varied including variations in use, granularity, format, quality, mode, tools and community.
The use of Creative Commons for open licensing, but also the range of Creative Commons licenses used.
The clear evidence of quality assurance.
That open textbooks flourish when there are corresponding institutional efforts to promote and support them.
I wonder what level of support and interest there is for this effort within your institution? Has your work rekindled interest and support such as was in place in 2010? Is there some kind of broader inter-institutional potential across Africa? I do hope your work continues to be supported with funding and resources - it’s really important stuff!
Welcome your thoughts and wishing you continued success with this work.