Open Textbooks are textbooks that are free to use, keep, and access online. Authors of open textbooks choose to share their work openly by allowing others to use it free of charge and without certain access limitations.

How are they "Free"?

This has to do with copyright and open licences.

In Canada, copyright applies automatically when someone creates an original work in a fixed form. Copyright gives the author/creator a bundle of rights, including the right to create copies, share, change, and distribute their work.

Open textbook authors don't give up copyright entirely, but rather, they choose to share permissions to some of these rights with everyone by sharing their work under an open licence.

An open licence specifies:

  • The permissions, or what you can do with the textbook (such as: read, download, share, and adapt or remix)
  • Any conditions you need to follow (such as: giving credit to the original author or not using the work for commercial purposes).

The most common open licences come from Creative Commons, which offer different license options with a variety of levels of openness. A few examples are:

  • CC BY - You can use, copy, share, and adapt as long as you credit (attribute) the author
  • CC BY-NC - You can use, copy, share, and adapt for non-commercial purposes only and must credit the original author
  • CC BY-SA - You can use, copy, share, and adapt, but must share your version using the same open license and with credit to the original author (Creative Commons, 2019).

Open Textbooks are one type of Open Educational Resource (OER) and are part of the broader Open Education movement, which aims to remove barriers to learning.

As SPARC puts it:

"Open Education encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment." (SPARC, n.d.).

What Does This Mean For You as a Student?

Open textbooks can:

  • Reduce financial stress
  • Let you keep your textbook forever -no expiry dates or lost access
  • Make materials easier to access on different devices
  • Offer flexible formats: you can choose whether you read online, PDFs, or print your own copy
  • Ensure everyone starts class with the same access to course materials

Open Textbooks at MacEwan

Some MacEwan instructors are already using open textbooks, and some are even creating or customizing them! Explore MacEwan Open Books to see what our campus is publishing.

Curious to find more open textbooks? Explore:

Share Your Voice

Talk to your instructors - many instructors appreciated hearing from students, and your feedback helps inform future course planning.

If open resources would be helpful for your learning, you can:

  • Let your instructors know that affordable and accessible course materials matter to you
  • Ask whether open or low-cost options are available for future courses
  • Share positive experiences if you've been in a class that used an open textbook before!

References

Creative Commons. (2019). About CC licenses. http://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/

SPARC. (n.d.). Open education. https://sparcopen.org/open-education/