Considering an Online Textbook

Back in January I wrote:

“I really enjoy writing and I have found that what I enjoy writing the most is non-fiction.  I have also found that I really don’t appreciate most text books.  The storage and clutter is enough to drive you mad.

I have been entertaining thoughts of a totally online textbook. I currently have an informative blog – and it’s “okay.”  I do find it limiting.  If I were to pursue a project for this course, it would be setting up a structure for an online textbook.  I find that most e-books don’t offer enough navigation features, so my most pressing interest would be setting up the initial structure for a website that would allow the user to easily navigate from chapter to chapter at will. Then, within each chapter, the reader can easily view sub-topics.

Some learners want to engage in material in a linear fashion, but even the most linear learner needs to be able to refer back to information.  Sure, search functions help, but sometimes the new learner’s grasp of information is so ephemeral that even a search function can fail to lead them to information they want to retrieve.  So I am very interested in structure.  If I had a structure that I liked, then I think I could be up and running to make it visually appealing as well as engaging in content.”

In considering this project, I am still all about structure and functionality, although stunning beauty is also a consideration and probably harder to achieve.

I need to design 3 pages:

• Home page
• Chapter page
• Section page

HOME PAGE

I have decided that I am a less is more person. My original masthead isn’t going to cut it.  Too busy. I want a home page that is strikingly beautiful, featuring chapter buttons in a 3 column setting with a thin strip of navigation on the bottom (about, contact, fair use, etc.).  I’d like it to have a liquid layout. Fill up that screen baby!

CHAPTER PAGE

This would feature a thin navigation strip on the right with buttons to take you back to the home page as well as links within the chapter.  I was really impressed with Boundless and their online texts (https://www.boundless.com/#courses/Art-History/1/1).  They have feature on the top of the chapter pages that shows how much of the chapter has been read.  I like that!

SECTION PAGE

Just like the chapter page, each section needs the same thin sidebar on the left.  The fixed top navigation bar would indicate what chapter they were in with a link back to the main chapter navigation page, a site specific search function as well as a pull down menu that shows the sections within the chapter. The bottom fixed navigation bar would  contain navigation to the next section or back to the previous section. I like the idea of having floating elements for quotes  and possibly images – maybe?

The general guiding principle for my third pages will be a textbook sensibility.  You want enough white space around the text, nice borders around inserted videos, sliderockets, images, and maps. It should feel like you are reading a gorgeous, illustrated book on Kindle with extra navigation features that make a textbook a valuable resource.