Hi there fellow Open Educators,
This is a very interesting read that speaks to the slight decline in textbook spending and
the assumption that opentextbooks are gaining ground:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/07/25/spending-and-costs-textbooks…
Nicole Allen says:
"One of the effects of high costs of textbooks is that it has started conversations
on campus about the limitations of traditional textbooks and created opportunities for
faculty to tailor more of their material to their course or even go beyond textbooks to
other collections of resources,” Allen said. The changing role of libraries has possibly
contributed to lower student spending, Allen said.
“Libraries have gotten a lot more engaged in conversations around course materials,” Allen
said. “They’ve been working with faculty to help get students access to academic
materials.”
This is very encouraging in my opinion. We must continue to encourage these campus
conversations, so that faculty relies less on textbooks and more on teaching. Being able
to adapt existing materials to the needs of your learners is one of the biggest advantages
of using an open textbook, in my opinion.
Cheers,
Rosario