Create or use open textbooks

Open book icon Open textbooks are a type of open educational resource (OER) that are free for everyone to use. Open textbooks provide an alternative to commercial textbooks and offer many benefits to you, your students and the community. Find out how you can author, adapt or adopt open textbooks.

Author an open textbook

Open Textbooks @ UQ, on the Pressbooks platform, enables you to author a new open textbook or adapt an existing open textbook for your course. You can:

tailor content to enhance deeper learning and engagement.
add local context, Indigenous perspectives and a diversity of viewpoints.
update your textbook immediately and easily.
add rich multimedia and interactivity.
co-create content with your students.

Visit the Open Textbooks @ UQ catalogue to find open textbooks by UQ authors.

Submit an expression of interest form to use Pressbooks to create an open book.

Adopt an open textbook

Find open textbooks to use in your course. Open textbooks and other OER usually have Creative Commons licences that allow others to freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them.

Benefits for your students:

Free access to the open textbook. The cost of textbooks can be a barrier to student success.
No limitations on access. This can be of particular concern during assessment time.
An increased sense of belonging due to the inclusion of local context and a diversity of viewpoints.

Find other types of OER, including images, software, audio, video and whole courses.

Open Textbook Grant Program

Apply for a grant to create an open textbook

There are two types of grants available:

Substantially adapt an existing open textbook to your instructional needs – $2,000
Create an open textbook to replace a commercially published textbook for your course – $4,000.