Textbooks . . . . What a Rip!

Thomas Johnson's picture
I had the chance today to take a look at the Make Textbooks Affordable website. http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org .  They call themselves: "The Campaign to Reduce College Textbook Costs."  These guy's are awesome, and I'm glad that there is finally a group out there pointing out and calling for reform in this lucrative "scammy" business.
 
They link to this youtube clip:
 
 
I noticed that Dr. David Wiley, Associate Professor of Instructional Technology, Utah State University has signed the petition or statement that this organization is pushing, however, I was disappointed not to find Doug Holton among those names, perhaps we need to pressure Doug a bit to join this movement.
 
I agree with what is being said, students are being gouged by these publishing companies and possibly authors too.  I have two classes this semester and INST 6310 didn't require a textbook.  I have spent $120.00 on the two books for INST 6350.  I cant imagine taking more classes in the same semester, because books could run upward of $400-$600.
 
I like this group, because they are not just pointing at the problem, they are working to solve the problem by getting professors to agree to use Open Textbooks.  Their definition of Open Textbooks is:  "Open Textbooks are high quality open-access textbooks that can be used for no cost online, and can be printed for a low cost.  Textbook costs can be a huge financial burden on students, and considering new low-cost options like open textboooks can help make textbooks affordable!"
 
I'd like to commend Doug Holton (even though his name is not on the petition) he has been gracious enough to practice the Open Textbook idea, and have given us free online materials to use as our texts for this class.
 
Cheers Doug!
 
 
 

Make Textbooks Affordable. . Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org.

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Submitted by Thomas Johnson on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 11:22pm

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Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.