2012 11-02 OER and Graduate Students (NAGPS Conference)

Open Educational Resources:
Overview and Impact on
Graduate Students
Nicole Allen
The Student PIRGs
nicole@studentpirgs.org • @txtbks

NAGPS National Conference 2012
November 2, 2012 • Duke University

www.MakeTextbooksAffordable.org | nicole@studentpirgs.org | @txtbks | #OpenTextbooks |

Textbooks
cost HOW
much?


Textbook Cost Increases vs. Inflation
Textbook wholesale 600%

prices have been rising 500%
Textbooks
four times the rate of
400%
inflation for the last three Inflation
decades. 300%

200%

Source: U.S. Department 100%
of Labor Statistics 0%


Avg. student budget for books
& supplies is $1,168* per year
* Publishers and bookstores estimate actual spending is lower, but…


7 in 10 students skip buying one
or more textbook due to cost


The average introductory
textbook costs $176



 

 really???




Bundled textbooks cost 10-50%
more than the book alone
(not even counting lost buyback potential)


E-textbooks cost more on avg.
than renting print textbooks


But how can
publishers get
away with this?


$8.8 Billion Industry


5 Players


“Broken Market”


Normal Market

www.MakeTextbooksAffordable.org | nicole@studentpirgs.org | @txtbks | #OAWeekPhilly |

“Broken” Textbook Market


Wish I could
exploit people
like that…


It’s the 21st century! Aren’t e-
books solving this problem?


OER & OA: Similarities
• Prices have risen rapidly, resulting in consumers
losing access

• Root of the problem is a “broken” market

• Faculty are the lynchpin

• The solution lies in new publishing models

Solving the
Textbook Cost Crisis


Cost-Saving Measures

E-Readers 39%

E-Books 52%

Rentals 61%

Used Books 25%


Students have many ways to
save, which is good…


But to solve the problem, we
need something better


Open Educational
Resources (OER)


Educational materials offered
under a license allowing the
public to freely use, adapt and
distribute the content


Definition: “Educational Resources”
• Textbooks • Tutorials
• Assessments • Video lectures
• Study guides • Graphics
• Online courses • Slides
• Lecture notes • And so on…


Definition: “Open License”
Legal permission from the copyright
owner to use the resource freely in the
following ways (known as the “4 R’s”)

• Reuse • Remix
• Revise • Redistribute


Open Educational Resources
1. Open Textbooks 3. OER Repositories
OER textbooks Mix and match
• 3,400 adoptions • CNX.org
• 1,800 institutions • MERLOT.org
• 100+ high-quality books • OERCommons.org
• Curriki.org
2. OpenCourseWare
Existing materials made open
• 250+ universities
• 17,000+ universities


OER & OA: Differences
• Educational content (interchangeable) vs. scholarly
research (unique)

• Emphasis on creating new content, rather than
open-licensing existing content

• Creating OER isn’t enough to solve the problem; it
must be promoted to get used

Open textbooks are the
“beachhead” for OER


Example: Open Textbook


Open Textbook Publishing
Models


Publishers (for-profit)

Solves the “Broken Market”


Individual Authors

Open Textbook Adoption


What You Can Do


What You Can Do
1. Support faculty to find and adopt OER (or
other low-cost/free curricular resources)


What You Can Do
2. Get involved in local OER initiatives


What You Can Do
2. Get local OER initiatives
3. Continue helping students save money


What You Can Do
2. Get involved in local OER initiatives
3. Continue helping students save money
4. Engage students as advocates


An Overview of the
Textbook Market and
Strategies to Reduce Costs
Nicole Allen
The Student PIRGs
nicole@studentpirgs.org • @txtbks

Textbooks and Their Stakeholders
November 1, 2012 • Northeastern University


2012 11-02 OER and Graduate Students (NAGPS Conference)

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