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Up To Date

The 'Flexbook': A Textbook Replacement

Who needs textbooks any more? And given how much they cost, even if you do need them, it's a huge expense in university education.

A Kansas State University professor has created a textbook replacement. It's called a "flexbook," and Brian Lindshield is using it for his Human Nutrition class. And get this: the flexbook....is free.

Based on the Google Docs platform, the flexbook is an open collaborative platform Lindshield created to help students save money on course materials and to help students and instructors gain access to rapidly changing information.

In the second portion of Up to Date, Steve Kraske talks with Brian Lindhield about the flexbook, and what he hopes it will provide to his students.

A native of Lindsborg, Kansas, Brian Linshield played basketball and earned his Associates of Science degree from Pratt Community College. He then transferred to Kansas State University to major in Nutritional Sciences. After graduating from Kansas State with his B.S. in Human Nutrition, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue his Ph.D. In 2008 he completed his degree and was hired back to Kansas State University. He is a Wakonse Fellow, a past participant of the Kansas State University Peer Review of Teaching Program, and was the 2010 Pratt Community College Alumnus of the Year & Commencement Speaker.

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Stephen Steigman is director of Classical KC. You can email him at <a href="mailto:Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org">Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org</a>.
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As senior producer of Up To Date, I want our listeners to hear familiar and new voices that shine light on the issues and challenges facing the myriad communities KCUR serves, and to expose our audiences to the wonderful and the creative in the Kansas City area. Just as important to me is an obligation to mentor the next generation of producers to ensure that the important conversations continue. Reach me at alexanderdk@kcur.org.