This document discusses the high costs of traditional college textbooks and proposes open textbooks as a solution. It outlines problems with the traditional textbook market structure that gives publishers too much power and leads to high prices. Open textbooks are proposed as an alternative, which are free online and can be customized by professors. Several models for creating and publishing open textbooks are presented, including individual authors, institutional projects, government and foundation funding, and commercial publishers. The document encourages students, professors, colleges and authors to support open textbooks to make education more affordable and accessible.

1. Open Textbooks, Open Doors www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks Geoff Cain College of the Redwoods

2. Background Godin, Seth. (2010) “The Coming Melt-Down in Higher Education (as seen by a marketer) http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

3. Textbook Costs Prices rising 2x the rate of inflation

4. Textbook Costs Students spend between $750 - $900 per year on textbooks

5. The Problem Part 1: Flawed market structure gives publishers too much power Producer Consumer

6. The Problem Part 1: Flawed market structure gives publishers too much power Publisher Student Professor

7. The Problem Publisher Each textbook is bought and sold several times, but the publisher only profits on the first sale Bookstore used books Students Part 2: Self-destructive business model drives unstable model

8. The Problem only $238.95 High Prices

9. The Problem $81.78 used 5th edition new 6th $213.95 New Editions

10. The Problem Biology, 8e with CengageNOW, Personal Tutor with SMARTHINKING, InfoTrac 2-Semester Printed Access Card $213.95 Costly Bundles

11. The Solution The solution must: Make the market more student-centric, without undermining faculty Rework publishers’ business model to be more efficient and sustainable

12. Open Textbooks Redefine the model and the “text.”

13. Open Textbooks What makes a textbook open?

14. What is “Open”? An “Open Text” is free of copyright constraints. Public Domain Creative Commmons Attribution (by) Share Alike (sa) Non-Commercial (nc) No Derivative Works (nd) http://creativecommons.org

15. Open Textbooks Open licenses legally grant the right to: Make copies and change formats Distribute copies Create customized versions

16. Open Textbooks A good way to think about open licenses:© Some Rights Reserved (vs. All Rights Reserved)

17. Open Textbooks Content is like traditional textbooks: Table of contents, chapters, index Written by expert author Edited and reviewed

18. Open Textbooks Formats go beyond traditional textbooks: Accessible free online by the public Downloadable, typically as a PDF Available in print

19. Inside an Open Textbook

20. Inside an Open Textbook Collaborative Statistics By Barbara Illowsky and Susan Dean cnx.org/content/col10522

21. Download PDF or print Read online version Purchase printed copy Inside an Open Textbook

22. Purchasing a hard copy through print on demand publisher QOOP Inside an Open Textbook

23. Key term links to definition Click here to print out Navigate table of contents Inside an Open Textbook

24. Open Textbooks Benefits for students: Students choose their preferred format (print, PDF, online, etc.) Online access is free, other formats are optional and fairly priced

25. Open Textbooks Benefits for instructors: All students have access to the text New editions are optional Ability to customize Corrections are immediate

26. Open Textbooks Benefits for Colleges Greater access to education for more students Save money Textbooks customized to a specific population

27. Open Textbooks Publisher Flawed Market Open Textbooks Publisher Student Professor Student Professor

28. The Solution The solution must: Make the market more student-centric, without undermining faculty Rework publishers’ business model to be more efficient and sustainable

29. Open Textbook Models

30. Open Textbook Models Individual authors Personal motivations Sabbatical time/grant funding Count open textbooks toward tenure?

31. Open Textbook Models Institutional projects A consortium of 80+ community colleges is pooling resources to write and review texts Rice University founded CNX.org, a platform that hosts numerous open textbooks Hewlett & Maxfield Foundations funded the creation of a new open textbook

32. Open Textbook Models Government funding A new bill introduced by Sen. Durbin (D-IL) would create a federal grant program to create open textbooks through the NSF The WA community college system received state funding to create open curriculum & texts for the 80 highest enrollment courses.

34. 11 books in spring 2009

36. Open Textbook Models The Long Tail The same area

37. Open Textbook Models Principles of Microeconomics By Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen Adoptions at: Calstate-LA, Penn State, University of Illinois, University of Massachusetts, University of Texas at Arlington... flatworldknowledge.com Online: FREE PDF: $19.95 Print: $29.95

38. Open Textbook Models Benefits of this publishing model: Used books aren’t a big threat, since new books are affordable Digital and print-on-demand distribution is far more efficient No need for excessive restrictions to prevent piracy - the book is already available for free!

39. Open Textbook Models Publisher Publisher The normal supply chain restored and publishers gain the opportunity to sell directly to students Each textbook is bought and sold several times, but the publisher only profits on the first sale Bookstore Bookstore used books Students Students Flawed Model Open Textbooks

40. The solution must: Make the market more student-centric, without undermining faculty Rework publishers’ business model to be more efficient and sustainable The Solution

41. What You Can Do

42. What You Can Do Instructors can seek & consider open textbooks, and use other cost reducing practices.

43. What You Can Do Students can speak to their professors and encourage them to consider open textbooks.

44. What You Can Do Colleges can offer support to faculty interested in adopting or writing open textbooks.

45. What You Can Do Authors can show preference for publishers using alternative models, like open textbooks. Or at least, aggressively negotiate electronic rights.

46. Resources Open Textbook Catalog: studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks Some Specific ExamplesA High School Biology Textbook Textbooks for the California Learning Resource Network – These textbooks have already undergone peer-review. Open Textbook CollectionsCommunity College Open Textbook Collaborative - This should be our first stop. I liked the amount of finished work represented by this project and the fact that they have English textbooks. OER Commons - There are a lot of textbooks here that will be of interest to us. Under recommended resources click on "textbooks." Connexions - This is a site that features reusable modules and learning objects as well as some texts. Project Sites for OER and Open TextbooksSophia Open Content Initiative - This is from De Anza and a good example of a grant-driven project in California. Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources - This project site has a lot of useful links. Open Education Resources Center for California - This is a good site for more information and resources in California.

47. Open Textbooks, Open Doors Adapted from a presentation by The Student PIRGs Illustrations from www.studentpirgs.org and http://commons.wikimedia.org unless otherwise noted. www.studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks