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The aim of this study is to investigate how the semiotic modalities interact (or not) in two ’domestic science- and consumer knowledge’ books. Unfortunately this interaction is often lost when the multimodal perspective is forgotten. The fact that this type of literature often is uninspiring and poorly designed does not make things better. This paper will use a wider text concept as a stepping stone toward an understanding of the interplay between multimodalities and semiotic resources in the books. A theoretical literature study combined with an empirical analysis will lay the foundation to answering my research questions: how do the modalities in two ’domestic science- and consumer knowledge’ books interact and how do these books relate to earlier research on multimodal texts? The result was somewhat surprising as it showed that from a collaboration point of view, the book that was perceived as the least inspiring was as good as the one that was perceived as the more interesting. The conclusion drawn was that design plays a greater role than one might think and that is just as important as as a well functioning interaction between modalities. In textbooks, all parts are important to create meaning.

This mixed-methods study evaluated quality, usage, and perceptions of open educational resources compared to traditionally published textbooks. Because textbooks and other related materials make up a significant portion of educational costs, open educational resources have been explored for potential cost savings at all levels of education. These resources use public domain or open-licensed materials as the content component of free eTextbooks or low-cost printed textbooks. This evaluation explores how teachers and students use textbook resources both in and out of the classroom and the degree to which the content and design of open textbooks compares in quality and value to traditional textbooks. Data came through evaluating the print media design and content quality of the books in a Utah pilot program, analyzing the actual textbook artifacts from students, and conducting teacher surveys and interviews. The data points to clear differences in quality and use between the two types of books. Although the open textbooks are generally a lower quality product than traditional publisher produced textbooks, they were used in unique ways. Teachers who participated in the open textbook development tended to value the book as a resource, leading us to conclude that the ability to customize open resources may be an important determinant of textbook use. However, it is also likely that textbooks have only a minor affect on academic outcomes compared to other more problematic pedagogical and educational policy issues. This evaluation points to the need for additional study on the impact these differences have on learning outcomes.