2011-10-28 Fantasy or Reality: Affordable and Open Access Textbooks (U of Arizona OA Week, Oct 2011)

Fantasy or Reality: Affordable and Open Access Textbooks Open Access Week 2011 University of Arizona Nicole Allen The Student PIRGs www.maketextbooksaffordable.org [email_address] @txtbks

Textbooks cost HOW much???

Caculus James Stewart $224.95

Economics N. Gregory Mankiw $255.95

Chemistry Theodore E. Brown $228.67

“ Student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and is likely to top a trillion dollars this year.”

The Problem Students should expect to spend $1137 per year - College Board

The Problem 26 % of tuition @ public 4-year 72 % of tuition @ comm. College - GAO

Prices are rising 4 times inflation - Student PIRGs 250% 200% 150% 100% 50% 0% 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 Textbooks vs. Inflation Textbooks Inflation

Extensive Research

Unnecessary New Editions used 5th edition $81.78 6 th Edition $224.95

Costly Bundles $213.95 with CengageNOW Personal Tutor CD, Student Study Guide, InfoTrac 2-Semester Printed Access Card Statistics

Limited E-Books $142.95 only

Producer Consumer

Market Failure

Publisher Student Professor

Publisher Student Professor FAIL

Rx Drug Company Patient Doctor

More ways to save than ever before

Used Books
75% the new cost in the bookstore
60% of the new cost online
Buy from from friends, classmates

Renting
40% of the new cost per semester
Online or on campus (new)
Up-front savings, no buyback blues

E-Books
50% of the new cost (in print)
Usually a 180-day subscription
Some limits on printing and access

E-Readers
Many different devices available
Cost $379- $1000+
Additional cost for content

Average Savings

66% Keep Some 34% Rent All 75% Prefer print 25% Prefer digital Student Preferences

Maximum Savings

We can do better than that.

Open Textbooks HTML: $0.00 PDF: $0.00 ePub: $0.00 B&W Book: $25.14 Self-Printed: $30.00

Open Textbooks HTML: $0.00 PDF: $24.95 ePub: $24.95 B&W Book: $34.95 Color Book: $89.95 Study Aids: $14.95

Open Textbooks • Table of contents, chapters, exercises • Written by experts • Edited and reviewed to be high-quality 1. Like regular textbooks: Open Textbooks

Open Textbooks • Available free online to everyone • Downloadable and printable at cost • Hard copies cost$20-30 2. Except affordable: Open Textbooks

Open Textbooks • Open license • Instructors can customize by adding, editing or removing. • Update faster and only when needed 3. And flexible: Open Textbooks

Open Textbooks
Adopted by 2,000+ classes
Used @ Harvard, Caltech, Berkeley…
Sustainable models developing

E-books, Rentals, etc. Publisher Student Professor

Open Textbooks Publisher Student Professor

Overall Savings

Open Textbooks Savings from switching to open textbooks. $10,114 $75,000 401(k) after 40 years $20,115 Down Payment On First Home $24,575 4 Years Tuition At Iowa State 401(k) Economics 90 Students Calculus 150 Students Physics 185 Students

$100 per student

$10,000 100-student class

$50K 5 classes

$100K 1 year

$500M 5000 US Colleges

Too Good To Be True?

Models • Personal motivation • Sabbatical projects or grant funding • Count toward faculty tenure? Individual authors Robert Beezer “ The world doesn ’ t need another linear algebra book. It needs a free one. ” linear.ups.edu

Models • Work with other institutions or states with similar needs. • Two ideas: split up the work or pool resources. Consortia Community College Consortium for OER More than 200 colleges working to review, create and promote OER. oerconsortium.org

Models • Hewlett, Soros, Gates... • Grants to existing projects. • Request proposals for specific books. Charitable Grants Customizable “ flex books ” that meet state standards. “ It simply makes more sense. ” ck12.org

Models • Redirect existing funds (NSF, FIPSE). • Invest new funds (state and federal). Gov ’ t Funding WA state project to create a library of 81 open courses. “ The return on our investment is going to be extraordinary. ”

Models • Lots of room for improvement over traditional model. • Two ideas: sell ancillary products or licensing fees. Publishers Commercial open textbook publisher Revenue (including royalties) from selling optional print copies, study aids. flatworldknowledge.com

Beyond Textbooks

Nuclear Physics $25,888

Surface Science $13,595

And you thought textbooks were expensive!

“ Open Access (OA) is the free, immediate, unrestricted availability of high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship over the Internet – combined with the rights to use this information to its fullest possible extent.”

7,252 Journals 655,586 Articles

RightToResearch.org

Making affordable textbooks a reality

Exposing the Problem
8 studies on various elements of the issue
Generated a TON of media attention
Congressional investigation

Organizing Profs
700 prof letter on new editions
UCLA math dept negotiated 25% cut
23-campus Calstate faculty resolution

Price Disclosure Laws
State bills in WA, OR, CT, AZ, CA (sort of)
Federal bill passed in 2008, took effect Jul 1, 2010

Higher Education Opportunity Act
Publishers must disclose prices to professors
Publishers must offer books unbundled
Colleges must list books during registration
Price Disclosure Laws

Promote Open Textbooks
3,000 profs signed statement endorsing open textbooks
1,000+ media hits
Over 2,000 personal meetings asking profs to “make the switch”

Introducing…

Mr. $200 Textbook

Textbook Rebel

40-Campus Tour

Petition
Against the high cost of textbooks
Great ask for students who want to do something
Online and offline

Petition
Not *just* a petition
Check the box to send email to profs
“ Kill two birds with one stone”

Petition 10,000 signatures 5,000 check the box 50,000 profs emailed

If just 1 in 500 profs adopt open textbooks… $1,000,000/sem. $2,000,000/year $20,000,000/decade

MakeTextbooksAffordable.org TextbookRebellion.org

2011-10-28 Fantasy or Reality: Affordable and Open Access Textbooks (U of Arizona OA Week, Oct 2011)

by Nicole Allen

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2011-10-28 Fantasy or Reality: Affordable and Open Access Textbooks (U of Arizona OA Week, Oct 2011) Presentation Transcript