Session 7: Content Creation (July 2023 Cohort)

Textbook Success Program July 2023 Cohort
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Hello, @july23-cohort . Thank you everyone for your participation in today’s session. Greetings to those of you who couldn’t make it. Please find here our brief recap and all resources related to the session for your reference:

The creation of content is one of the most important stages in the process. The work you do in this phase can make the next phases of editing, review, and formatting much easier. As OER content creators or contributors, your project teams can change the status quo in education.

With your student audience at the core of your efforts, you can develop both OER and specific pedagogical methods that in synthesis will work to support accessible, equitable, and inclusive learning. Well-structured content not only helps your students identify what matters to the discipline and specific courses, but also what matters to them. Thus we looked closely how specific elements in textbooks/ OER can work to represent and support your diverse learners on the book and chapter levels.

Homework Activity

Thinking through the structure of your OER will take some time and dedication, but we hope that the homework activity will guide your team’s discussion around the structure and parts in your resource [see handout linked above]. It will help you redefine the alignment of your content with the envisioned outcomes for your project, so you can determine the parts that will further enrich your OER and make it stand out within your discipline. Feel free to browse the examples shared in your handout for inspiration as well.

Over the next wee, work on your chapter template(s), which will be due to PST by the end of the month. Post your template in your Rebus team space or as a reply to this thread and be ready to send that to the PST team.

Next week, we will dig a bit deeper into the editing process and how you can set up an equitable workflow and smooth logistics that includes checklists, tracking sheets, and an author guide to orientate everybody on your team. Leave a few thoughts around the outcomes for Session 8: Authoring and Editing Logistics [Read the initial 5 slides].

  • What excites you,
  • Would you like to know more or have questions about?
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He’s the chapter template that I’m considering using:

Chapter Title

Introduction (~500 words)

  • Hook capturing chapter theme and its significance
  • Overview of key topics covered
  • Why it matters to students and relate to previous chapter

Core Content (~3000-4000 words)

  • Elaborate on 4-6 key topics with subheadings
  • Visual elements (diagrams, tables, illustrations)
  • Examples and mini-cases sprinkled throughout

Global Perspectives Textbox (~300 words)

  • Highlights how topic is viewed or applied in different cultural contexts globally

Accessibility Checkpoint (~150 words)

  • Tips for making content accessible to learners with disabilities

Case Study (~800 words)

  • Real world example highlighting diversity of perspectives/contexts
  • Ties core content to practical application

Reflection Questions (~400 words)

  • 3-4 thought provoking questions
  • Tie to both conceptual understanding and lived experiences

Creative Assessment (~300 words)

  • Qualitative assessment options like reflective writing, podcasts, videos etc.

Activities (~800 words)

  • 1-2 hands-on exercises or activities
  • Individual/group focused
  • Instructions provided

Interdisciplinary Connections (~200 words)

  • Highlights relations between chapter topic and other fields

Chapter Summary (~300 words)

  • Succinct review of key takeaways
  • Transition to next chapter

Inclusion Elements

  • Diverse examples and imagery throughout
  • Historical representation (textboxes)
  • Ethics/Equity debate prompt

Educator Tips (~300 words)

  • Strategies for teaching chapter content culturally-responsively

Student Feedback Prompt (~150 words)

  • Direct invitation for readers to suggest enhancements to cultural relevance
1 Like
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@dwalton Wow, great job! I really love your inclusion elements and educator tips that you have planned. Thank you for doing the front end work that will hopefully make the writing and/or adapting process much smoother.

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For Writing 1 “Politics of Language Sourcebook”: These are the templates for the reader section of the sourcebook – there are two versions to cover cases when the text can be reproduced in full (open access) and when it must be linked out (copyright).

Chosen text that can be reproduced –

  1. Title, Author, Date
  2. Content hashtags as thematic/conceptual guide
  3. Overview
  4. Suggested Learning Goals or Skills
  5. Focus Questions
  6. Reproduced Text
  • Marginalia with questions/prompts for discussion
  1. Small Exercise and/or Suggested Projects

Chosen text that must be linked –

  1. Title, Author, Date
  2. Content hashtags as thematic/conceptual guide
  3. Overview
  4. Suggested Learning Goals or Skills
  5. Focus Questions
  6. Brief Excerpt (within copyright guidelines)
  7. Small Exercise and/or Suggested Projects
1 Like
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Wonderful work! Your team has really thought through the two approaches based on open licensing freedom or limitations. I look forward down the road to seeing and learning from those focus questions and projects you all craft. :dizzy: Thanks so much!