The landscape for course content affordability issues at UC Berkeley & peer institutions;
What campus-wide efforts are being undertaken;
Initiatives, resources, and services instructors and students can rely on to help limit costs
3. “ I could have paid rent for the same
price as one semester of textbooks.
I can’t enroll in as many classes,
because I can’t afford all my books.
K.U. OA initiatives https://provost.ku.edu/strong-ties/20170306
4. Prices have risen
88% in past decade
▪ Often at least $200
▪ $1200/year
▪ Other institutions
▫ 63-66% have foregone purchase
▫ 35% taken fewer classes
▫ 14% dropped classes due to costs
7. What are open textbooks?
Open Educational Resources (OERs)
▪ Published under a Creative Commons license
▪ Can be fully used, shared and adapted
▪ Can be peer-reviewed
▪ Can be printed like “traditional” textbook
▪ Guide to help you find them
8. Potential Pedagogical Benefits
▪ No detriment, often improvement in performance
▪ Students can participate in content creation
▪ Multimedia innovation
11. Packs can help with savings
but some $$ unnecessary
▪ Could have been fair use to copy
▪ Could have been in public domain
▪ Could have already been licensed by library
18. Social justice issue
▪ Students do
better if they can
afford readings
▪ Students with
immediate access
perform better
▪ Food insecurity
competes with
content costs
Business
Finance
Economy
22. 1. Course Pack
Processing
Library will process your
syllabus.
We will go through required
readings to locate copies of
open, free, or Library-
licensed versions of
assigned readings.
Links or PDFs
23. 2. Grants for
eBooks
$500 to $5,000 to switch to
electronic version of textbook
or equivalent eBook(s).
Higher grants awarded for
designing your own open and
electronic course materials.
Programmatic support
provided to help in the switch.
Canvas LMS (i.e. bCourses) allows linking & posting
But many instructors still use print course packs
If open, free, or Library-licensed versions are available, we will give you links or PDFs to post to bCourses at no cost to your students, reducing any remaining readings that a student would have purchase as part of a print course pack.
We will also provide guidance to you for making fair use decisions--further reducing the cost of course packs, because we can help you limit instances in which a third party copy center would need to secure copyright clearance for assigned readings.
Extensive campus education, input, & buy-in
Affordability issues
Copyright & fair use
Especially:
Integration of info into bCourses, + rights election in bCourses
Surveys assessing scope of issues at Berkeley
Faculty survey
Student survey
Explore possibility for adapted bookstore role