Why Minnesota’s use of open textbooks may increase | On Campus | Minnesota Public Radio News

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-06-14

Summary:

"The recently passed higher education bill orders the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system to find a way to use free and low-cost teaching materials to lower students’ overall college expenses by one percent. Those materials, known as 'open educational resources,' are essentially electronic versions of textbooks, study guides, academic journals, and even lectures. The aim is to give students relief from rising higher-ed costs, especially those tied to textbooks. It’s an area that has generated a lot of discussion in the last few years — but little concrete relief. 'I suspect (MnSCU) has been stagnant … and I think that’s why students brought it to our attention,' said Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka. 'I hope this will be a catalyst for improvement.' The digital versions of open textbooks are often free. Students just pay for printing if they want a hard copy — usually at a cost of $40 or less, according to a University of Minnesota website on the subject. Most open publishers allow professors to customize the books by adding, deleting or changing material to fit their class needs. They tend to be aimed at introductory classes, because such classes involve large numbers of students and tend to cover the same general material regardless of institution. Advocates see them as a solution to skyrocketing textbook prices. Nationally, the average student at a four-year public college pays about $1,200 a year on textbooks and supplies, according to the College Board, an association representing about 6,000 colleges, universities and other educational institutions. 'It’s the one thing that we hear consistently from students that they’re just furious about,' said Jonathan Bohn, director of government relations at Minnesota State University Student Association, the group representing students at four-year MnSCU campuses. 'Why am I paying $200 for an accounting book that hasn’t changed in 20 years?' MnSCU campuses have taken steps toward helping lower costs. So far, those efforts have seen mixed success: [1] Early notification. A few years ago, legislation required campuses to tell students weeks before the beginning of each semester just what books they would need for each class. If students had more time to shop around online for books, the theory goes, they could find much better deals that what’s on offer at the campus bookstore. Most campuses appear to be complying, Bohn said. Although shopping around has helped, he said it hasn’t proven to be a solution for everyone. [2] Textbook rentals. Students can rent textbooks for much less than it costs to buy. But surveys for two-year and four-year students a couple of years ago showed a low usage rate. Bohn said some students like to pay that lower cost and be done with it. But others need the textbook for multiple classes, and may not save much money — if any — if they rent it for more than one semester. He said others can save more money if they buy new and then sell at the end of the semester — but only if faculty are using that text in the next semester. [3] Textbook reserves. Minnesota State University – Mankato keeps multiple copies of some widely used textbooks in its library. French professor Evan Bibbee says students there can check out a copy for a few hours when they need one. But Bohn said not all campuses have the resources to do that. And because students have to go check out a copy, they often don’t have a copy at their fingertips when they need one. Ebooks. [4] Ebooks suffer from similar issues as rentals, Bohn said. Students 'rent' access to the material for a semester at a reduced cost, but must continue to pay for more semesters if they need it again. They were still an uncommon sight at two-year colleges a couple of years ago, and saw sporadic use at four-year campuses, according to the student surveys. In contrast, open texts appear to be the one solution that MnSCU could use at all campuses — and 'the only option that provides long-term savings to students,' Bohn said."

Link:

http://blogs.mprnews.org/oncampus/2013/06/why-minnesotas-use-of-open-textbooks-may-increase/

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.comment oa.legislation oa.universities oa.students oa.textbooks oa.prices oa.education oa.colleges oa.mn oa.usa.mn oa.books oa.hei

Date tagged:

06/14/2013, 08:12

Date published:

06/14/2013, 04:12