Open Textbooks: The Student Perspective

Students and Textbooks
Textbooks cost how much???

Students and Textbooks
High prices force students to make difficult choices
Work longer hours
Credit cards
Drop the class
Don’t buy the book

What Students Want
Digital textbooks could be a change for the better…

What Students Want
CourseSmart e-textbooks aren’t much cheaper than used books
New in bookstore
Used in bookstore
Used online
E-book “rental”
After buyback
Bookstore rental
Online rental
$145.39
$109.04
$79.32
$73.19
$72.69
$61.79
$40.79

What Students Want
1. Textbooks must be affordable
Many options to control costs – format, length of ownership, etc.
A free or nearly free alternative
Safeguards against future rip-offs
Note: “less expensive” does not mean affordable

What Students Want
2. Format flexibility
94%
Comfortable with print
75%
Prefer print
25%
Prefer digital
48%
Comfortable with digital
Another study found 70% want the option to use both

What Students Want
3. Easy access to textbooks
71% said they keep at least some of their textbooks for future reference
45% said computer access would make it at least somewhat difficult to use a digital book

What Students Want
Open textbooks have it all!
Affordable: Many options including free online – lets students buy what they value
Many formats: Online, offline, PDF, print on demand, self-printed…
Accessible: Anywhere, anytime without restrictions and will always remain open

The Campaign
Research to expose problem
Bookswaps, rental programs
State and federal legislation

The Campaign
Build support for open textbooks through the Statement of Intent
www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks
More than 2,500
professors have
signed since 2008

The Campaign
Grassroots efforts to raise awareness of open textbooks currently available
www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks

Open Textbooks: The Student Perspective

Open Textbooks: The Student Perspective

by Cable Green

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