Oo-er! Changing the face of textbooks

Two OER projects are set to revolutionise e-textbook authoring at DUT. Dan Pienaar has already produced a first-year Chemistry textbook that provides students with the most up-to-date information in their field. The Chemistry e-textbook draws on authoritative sources with Creative Commons licensing, thus providing students with the highest quality at almost no cost. Previously, soon out-of-date printed textbooks cost each student over R500. Dr Alex van der Merwe has recently undertaken the authoring of a new Economics e-textbook, also founded on Open Education principles. OERs combine the best of dependable textbook content with local relevance and recent updates. The university is well on its way to becoming a net producer of OERs, rather than merely a consumer.