Now that you've created and configured your "My Sandbox" book, let's look at some of the steps you can take to transform your flat text into content that is more easily digestible and engaging from a learner perspective. In this section, we'll look at some of the options you might consider to make y our resource more dynamic, visually appealing and interactive. These include:
Within the Visual Editor, there is a "Textboxes" option. You can see from the image below the number of options that have been designed with suggested content in mind.
Complete the steps below to insert textboxes into your Pressbook.
It is recommended that the Textboxes be used for the purpose they have been designed for (e.g., Learning Objectives) due to metadata added to each textbox for optimal discoverability. However, the headings can be rewritten to better reflect the exact content added. You can always easily modify the font type, size, and colour.
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Once you have found (or created) an openly-licensed image to add to your book, you add it via the Media Library. Make sure the image you have selected is either .jpg, .gif or .png.
Complete the steps below to insert images into your Pressbook.
Another option to add an image that you have the URL for, is to select "Add Media" and "Insert from URL." Keep in mind that this will hyperlink the image and does not give you the option to include information contained in the aforementioned "Attachment Details." Also note that while it is best to edit your images before you upload them to your book, Pressbooks does offer limited editing capabilities.
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If audio is stored within an online repository (e.g., Soundcloud), you can embed it by copying and pasting the URL into the Visual Editor. This will automatically embed the audio clip. If the audio is from a platform that does not allow oEmbed, it must be hyperlinked. It is important to ensure all of your media is accessible and audio is no different. The audio should have an accompanying visual of any words in the clip. If this is missing, you must supply a link to a transcript for individuals with disabilities to interact with it.
Complete the steps below to add audio to your Pressbook.
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Similar to audio, video that is stored within a dedicated streaming service that supports oEmbed like Youtube, Vimeo, etc. can be embedded into your book. Additionally, your videos must be appropriately captioned – the bare minimum being automatically generated captions, but ideally captions that are 100% accurate.
Complete the following steps to add a video to your Pressbook.
Magically, you will see the URL you pasted replaced with the embedded video.
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The eCampusOntario hosted version of Pressbooks includes H5P, an open-source plugin which you can use to create interactive content and learning activities in your book. There are over 50 content types (and growing!) that you might consider integrating into your book to elevate the content.
While there is a separate module on H5P in the Train the Trainer suite, we'll review the steps to activate and use the plugin to create H5P content within your resource. We encourage you to check out the H5P module for more advanced guidance on using and reusing H5P content developed globally, or within the eCampusOntario H5P Studio. Let's try it out by creating a Multiple Choice H5P interaction as a knowledge check.
Complete the following steps to add an H5P to your Pressbook.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
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There are other features within the Visual Editor that you might want to explore that aren't detailed in this section. They include tables, lists, glossary, and footnotes.
In addition to H5P, Pressbooks has optional plugins you also may want to activate depending on what is needed for your resource. We won't go into great detail on these, but have included more advanced resources for you to consider.
Hypothesis: Hypothesis is an open-source web annotation tool which, when activated in Pressbooks, gives users the ability to annotate (publicly or privately). This can be a powerful teaching and learning activity for your readers, enabling open dialogue and engagement. It can also be used as part of the publishing process for editing and proofreading purposes. Find out more and see Hypothesis in action.
MathJax: MathJax is another open-source JavaScript display engine integrated into Pressbooks – providing you with a method for rendering LaTeX (mathematical markup) into web accessible equations. Learn more and see a demo of its use.
TablePress: TablePress is a plugin which gives you the power to create dynamic, interative tables that can be sorted, filtered and searched within your resource. Here is further reading and an example.