In many instances, the sharing process involved the infringement of copyright law. Because of that student behavior, textbook publishers were incorporating measures to try and stop the process, a concept dubbed textbook piracy.
Professors Taking Different Approach
In direct alignment with the “if you can’t beat them, join them” philosophy, a growing number of professors have begun placing their own textbooks online. While it is possible for some professors to earn six-figure advances for a quality textbook, many have begun to realize that such a royalty means a textbook could cost one of their student’s $200.
These substantial costs to students have professors concerned. At the same time, concerned professors are frustrated with the need for their texts to be modified so as to appeal to the broadest possible audience. That step has many authors insisting that their text was “dumbed-down” so as to appeal to a broader audience.
In addition, many professors have found it difficult to find a market for their texts because of the inability of a publisher to make a profit from printing a hard copy version. The inability to turn a profit means that professors will not be able to get their knowledge out to students.
To change the current overall landscape, professors have begun making copies of their own specific texts available online in either Word or PDF formats. At the same time, many are also contracting with publishers to produce lower cost versions of the text available for print on demand should students still prefer the traditional format.
Students Turning to Connexions
Richard G. Baraniuk, an engineering professor at Rice University, has created a site called Connexions.
While offering a wide range of online textbooks, the Connexions site is actually part of the new Creative Commons world that allows materials to be “ripped, burned and mashed,” as long as attribution is provided the original creator.
The Connexions site allows professors to put blocks of materials, called “modules,” up for possible download. The Connexions concept allows educators to mix any number of modules to create a downloadable version of a textbook that would be unique to their respective classroom.
Professor Baraniuk likens the change tp converting an antiquated, pipeline information model, to a more dynamic, ecosystem concept. He also notes that by making such materials free for use, the potential for professors/writers to reach a greater audience is much enhanced.
As but one example, in a recent New York Times article, the Rice professor offers this summary assessment of one book he had been working on. Under the prior model, he noted: “It would have taken five years” to complete the process, from creation to publication, the book would have spent about five years in print and ultimately, he might have seen 2,000 copies purchased.
Instead, he posted the text on his web site. Making the materials free online helped the professor top 2.8 million page views.
The new online, instantaneous upload format works much better for the sciences and those areas where new insights and developments occur daily. In contrast, humanity type offerings generally do not see considerable changes on such a short term basis. Because non-science materials remain timely for longer periods of time they are more conducive to hard copy publication models. But many of today’s business/science-oriented textbooks are out-of-date in less than two year’s time.
CourseSmart Another Option
Another option for online publication is a new site called CourseSmart. Owned by five publishers, CourseSmart not only gives students the opportunity to access a textbook for reading online, the accompanying software allows students the option to highlight specific sections of the book as they read it. In addition, students may print out portions of the text should they feel the need to do so.
While the price can still buckle the knees of any prospective student, the cost is roughly half what a normal hard copy text would be. However, students using the service have to make a critical decision: do they simply read the text online or do they take the time to download it to their personal computer.
Textbook Prices Seem to Be the Issue
Hiawatha Bray, reporting for the Boston Globe, recently spent some time discussing the textbook issue with Ed McCoyd, the director of digital policy at the Association of American Publishers. McCoyd indicated that textbook piracy has become particularly ‘seductive’ for students because of the fact they often have extreme difficulty finding the cash to pay for academic books that often cost more than $100 per individual text.
The challenge for publishers in such a world is an inability to impose consequences on sites posting copyrighted materials for illegal download. The anonymity and the world-wide basis of the Internet means that more students are going to be sharing copyrighted materials online.
Meanwhile, in direct response to the same student concerns, professors have begun creating a new market for textbook purchases at more reasonable levels. E-editions that forgo the entire book publishing process are one method for bringing down such costs.
We offer kudos to those professors who understand the need to make such texts more affordable. Education is deemed to be one of the great equalizers in American society - more affordable textbooks means that a greater number of students will have access to the knowledge-base that renders such equalization possible.
Reported by Open Eduation and distributed under Creative Commons.
