studentpirgs.org
Open Education and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis
Open Education WeekMarch 2012 • #openeducationwk
Nicole AllenThe Student PIRGs
www.studentpirgs.org/[email protected]
twitter @txtbks
studentpirgs.org
“Student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and is likely to top a trillion dollars this year.”
studentpirgs.org
Textbooks cost HOWmuch???
studentpirgs.org
$224.9
5
Popular
Calculus
Textbook
studentpirgs.org
Popular
PhysicsTextbook
$234.7
3
studentpirgs.org
$255.9
5
Popular
Econ 101
Textbook
studentpirgs.org
The current system is
broken
studentpirgs.org
Course materials and supplies cost
$1168 per year
- College Board
studentpirgs.org
250%
200%
150%
100%
50%
0%
1989 1994 1999 2004 2009
Textbooks vs. Inflation
Textbooks
Inflation
Prices are rising
4 times
inflation
- Student PIRGs
studentpirgs.org
26% of tuition @ public 4-year
72% of tuition @ comm. College
- GAO
studentpirgs.org
7 in 10 students surveyed hadn’t bought a required text due to cost
- Student PIRGs
studentpirgs.org
used 5th edition
$81.78
6th Edition
$224.95
Unnecessary
New Editions
Publisher Practices
studentpirgs.org
$213.95
with CengageNOW Personal Tutor CD, Student Study Guide, InfoTrac 2-Semester Printed Access Card
StatisticsCostly
Bundles
Publisher Practices
studentpirgs.org
Limited
E-Books
$142.95only
Publisher Practices
studentpirgs.org
Single-Use
Access Codes
Publisher Practices
Buyback
$0
Price$229.95
studentpirgs.org
FAILMarket Failure
studentpirgs.org
Producer
Consumer
Normal Market
studentpirgs.org
Publisher
Student Professor
Market Failure
studentpirgs.org
Rx Drug Company
Patient Doctor
Another Market Failure
studentpirgs.org
“More ways to save than ever before”
studentpirgs.org
Used Books• 75% the new
cost in the bookstore
• 60% of the new cost online
• Buy from from friends, classmates
studentpirgs.org
Renting• 40% of the new
cost per semester
• Online or on campus (new)
• Up-front savings, no buyback blues
studentpirgs.org
E-Books• 50% of the new
cost (in print)
• Usually a 180-day subscription
• Some limits on printing and access
studentpirgs.org
E-Readers• Many different
devices available
• Cost $379- $1000+
• Additional cost for content
studentpirgs.org
Used Books
Rentals
E-Books
E-Readers
25%
61%
52%
39%
Average Savings
Source: www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/research
studentpirgs.org
66%Keep Some
34%Rent All
75%Prefer print
25%Prefer digital
Student Preferences
Source: www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/research
studentpirgs.org
E-Readers
E-Books
Rentals
1%
8%
33%
Maximum Savings
Source: www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/research
studentpirgs.org
We can do better than that.
studentpirgs.org
OER
OpenEducationalResources
studentpirgs.org
“Educational materials offered under a license allowing the public to freely use, adapt and
distribute the content”
studentpirgs.org
OERAssessments
Homework Syllabi
Exercises
Lecture Notes
Labs
Video
s
TextbooksTutorials
studentpirgs.org
What does “open” actually mean?
studentpirgs.org
Open Licensing
All Rights Reserved
Some Rights
Reserved
No Rights Reserved
Standard OpenPublic
Domain
studentpirgs.org
Open Licensing
Rights:• Freely use the work• Adapt, remix, revise the content• Create and distribute copies
Conditions:• All: Credit the author• Some: Share under same license• Some: Use must be not for profit
studentpirgs.org
Open LicensingSystem of standardized open
licenseswww.creativecommons.org
Attribution (BY)
Attribution Share-Alike (BY-SA)
Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (BY-NC-SA)
Attribution No Derivs (BY-ND)
Attribution Non-Commercial(BY-NC)
Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivs (BY-NC-ND)
studentpirgs.org
Open Textbooks
studentpirgs.org
$0 pdf
Open
PhysicsTextbook
OpenStaxCollege.org
$41
studentpirgs.org
Open
Calculus
TextbookOpenTextBookStore.
org $0 pdf$12
studentpirgs.org
Open
Econ 101
TextbookFlatWorldKnowledge.c
om$35
pdf$0 html$45
studentpirgs.org
Criteria 1: Quality
• Covers similar content, with exercises and illustrations
• Written and reviewed by experts
• Used at Harvard, Caltech, UCLA…
Open Textbooks
studentpirgs.org
Criteria 2: Cost
• Freely available online to everyone
• Downloadable and printable at a low cost
• Hard copies typically cost $20-40 and can be sold at the bookstore
Open Textbooks
studentpirgs.org
Criteria 3: Fit• Open license allows instructors
to adapt the text to fit the class
• Update in real time (but no unnecessary new editions)
Open Textbooks
studentpirgs.org
Maximum Savings
E-Readers
E-Books
Rentals
Open Textbooks
1%
8%
33%
80%
Source: www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/research
studentpirgs.org
$10,114$75,000 401(k) after 40 years
$20,115Down Payment On First Home
$24,5754 Years Tuition At Iowa State
401(k)
Economics90 Students
Calculus150 Students
Physics185 Students
Savings from switching to open textbooks.
Source: www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/research
studentpirgs.org
Publisher
Student Professor
Broken
Market
studentpirgs.org
Publisher
Student Professor
Open
Textb
ooks
studentpirgs.org
What’s the catch?
studentpirgs.org
There isn’t one.** Obviously there are still some challenges.
What’s the catch?
studentpirgs.org
Individuals• Wider distribution
of work
• Sabbatical projects
• Personal motivation
OER Models
Robert Beezer
“The world didn’t need another linear algebra book. It needed a free one.”
linear.ups.edu
studentpirgs.org
Institutions• Pool resources
with other colleges with similar needs
• Provide support to faculty who use OER
• Pass OER policies
OER Models
Community College Consortium for OER
More than 200 colleges working to review, create and promote OER.
oerconsortium.org
studentpirgs.org
OER Models
University of Minnesota
Creating an online catalog of reviewed open textbooks, and providing support to faculty
open.umn.edu
Institutions• Pool resources
with other colleges with similar needs
• Provide support to faculty who use OER
• Pass OER policies
studentpirgs.org
OER Models
UMASS Amherst Libraries
Provided small grants to faculty to help transition to OER, saved students $72,000 per year!
open.umn.edu
Institutions• Pool resources
with other colleges with similar needs
• Provide support to faculty who use OER
• Pass OER policies
studentpirgs.org
Foundations• Grants or prizes to
OER authors
• Support the development of sustainable models
OER Models
studentpirgs.org
Government• Invest in
“generic” OER content that can be localized
• Require open license for all taxpayer funded resources
OER Models
WA recently launched OER library for its 81 largest courses.
The 1st year will save students $1.3 million.
opencourselibrary.org
studentpirgs.org
Government• Invest in
“generic” OER content that can be localized
• Require open license for all taxpayer funded resources
OER Models
US Dept. of Labor created $2 billion grant program to improve job training.
The first wave of grants required a CC BY license on all materials created.
studentpirgs.org
OER Models
Non-profit publishing effort (Rice Univ.)
Grant funding and support from for-profit partners.
OpenStaxCollege.org
Publishers• Lots of room for
improvement on traditional model
• Business models built around books rather than on them
studentpirgs.org
Publishers• Lots of room for
improvement on traditional model
• Business models built around books rather than on them
OER Models
Commercial open textbook publisher
Revenue (incl. royalties) from selling optional print copies, study aids.
flatworldknowledge.com
studentpirgs.org
Student PIRGs campaign 2003-
2012
studentpirgs.org
Exposing the ProblemCampaign
Activities
• 8 studies on various elements of the issue
• 1,000+ media hits over the last 8 years
• Congressional investigation
studentpirgs.org
Organizing FacultyCampaign Activities
• 700 prof letter on new editions
• UCLA math dept negotiated 25% cut
• 23-campus Calstate faculty resolution
studentpirgs.org
Price Disclosure LawsCampaign Activities
• Passed laws in WA, OR, CT, AZ, CA (sort of)
• Passed federal law in 2008, took effect Jul 1, 2010
studentpirgs.org
Higher Education Opportunity Act• Publishers must disclose
prices to professors
• Publishers must offer books unbundled
• Colleges must list books during registration
Price Disclosure Laws
studentpirgs.org
Promote AlternativesCampaign Activities
• 3,000 profs signed statement endorsing open textbooks
• Student “marketing” force met with over 2,000 professors
• Open textbook catalog
studentpirgs.org
studentpirgs.org
Questions/Discussion
studentpirgs.org
Open Education and Solving the Textbook Cost Crisis
Open Education WeekMarch 2012 • #openeducationwk
Nicole AllenThe Student PIRGs
www.studentpirgs.org/[email protected]
twitter @txtbks
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