2012-10-24 OER and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis

OER and Solving the
Textbook Cost Crisis
Open Access Week 2012
#OAWeek2012 • #OAWeekPhilly

Nicole Allen
The Student PIRGs
nicole@studentpirgs.org • @txtbks

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

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%


The avg. student spends $1,168
per year on books & supplies


The average introductory
textbook costs $176


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


Studies show major publishers
artificially drive up costs



 

 really???




But how can
publishers get
away with this?


$8.8 Billion Industry


5 Players


“Broken Market”


Normal Market


“Broken” Textbook Market


Wish we could
exploit consumers
like that…


Solving the
Textbook Cost Crisis


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


But…


“Students have more options
than ever before”


Cost-Saving Measures

E-Readers 39%

E-Books 52%

Rentals 61%

Used Books 25%


But, the savings are incremental
and don’t apply for everyone


How Students Say They Would
Prefer to Buy Their Textbooks

*
25%
Prefer
digital
34%
Rent All

75% 66%
Prefer Keep Some
print

* If forced to choose one or the
other. Most students would
prefer to have both.
Source: Student PIRGs

We need a better solution


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


Open textbooks are the
“beachhead” for OER


Open Textbook Example:
Collaborative Statistics


Ordering a
print copy


Open Textbook Example:
Principles of Economics


Who creates OER?


Publishers (for-profit)

Individual Authors

OER as a Solution


Benefits for Students
• Affordable access
• Allows students to use whatever format
they want
– Print
– Digital
• Faculty customization makes for a better
learning experience


Benefits for Faculty
• All students have access to the textbook
• Textbook can be adapted to fit the
curriculum rather than adapting the
curriculum to fit the textbook
• Supports academic freedom


Benefits for Authors + Publishers
• Takes full advantage of technology to
reduce costs
• Business models similar to the most
successful 21st century companies
• Authors get wider access to their
work, higher royalty percentages.


Solves the “Broken Market”


OER & OA


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

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

What You Can Do


What Students Can Do
• Speak to faculty, administrators, librarians
and others about textbook costs
• Organize educational events on campus
• Call on policymakers to take action
• Work with the media


What Faculty Can do
• Adopt open textbooks
• Spread the word about open textbooks to
colleagues
• Sign the faculty statement at
studentpirgs.org


What Administrators Can do
• Provide professional support to faculty
• Seek input from the students
• Join the $1 billion campaign!
bit.ly/save1billion


What Librarians Can do
• Work with faculty to adopt open textbooks
• Educate campus administrators about the
cost-saving potential of OER
• Set up grant programs (e.g. Temple, Umass)


Resources


Open Textbooks and Solving
the College Cost Crisis
Open Access Week 2012
#OAWeek2012 • #OAWeekPhilly

Nicole Allen
The Student PIRGs
nicole@studentpirgs.org • @txtbks


2012-10-24 OER and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis

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