Blog: Advice

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College students spend way too much money on textbooks alone. This semester, I've spent about $600 on textbooks so in two semesters I would spend about $1,200 on textbooks. It would not be a big issue if students are keeping their textbooks to learn from it, but usually they are used for only one class and then collect dust until they are either thrown out, donated, or sold for a huge loss. An open source textbook could be a solution to the financial situation for students. According to the article Open source textbook program expanding in coming months, "Open source texts – whether on paper or in a digital format – are compiled using copyright-free materials from a wide variety of sources and can be edited and updated immediately." so they are information that can be collected and used through the internet. This can also give teachers a lot of freedom since they are not confined to teaching only topics from the textbook. They can be regularly updated by the greatest minds the school has to offer and they can collectively create a textbook superior to the textbooks from McGraw Hill or Pearson. The fact that open source textbooks are free is a great plus for students who love learning but hate the monetary price of learning. 

In addition to open source textbooks, an additional feature of online homework and quizzes can be added to enhance the learning experience. In Baruch, many students are required to purchase access to McGraw Hill's Connect. This is a packaged with the textbooks so many students are essentially buying the access to Connect and a rental for an online version of the textbook. In addition to an online open source textbook, homework and quizzes can also be given online which can completely replace the need for McGraw Hill or Pearson. Students would no longer need to spend a lot of money to learn and it would create a very positive learning experience where students would not have to worry financially in order to obtain the knowledge necessary to succeed. This can also help teachers keep an organized track of student's progress. The homework and quizzes would be created by the teachers so they can control how students are graded on the online homework and quizzes. However, nothing in life is free and neither is this concept. Teachers must spend time and energy into creating these open source textbooks with the online homework and quizzes and it can take some time for everything to connect. When everything comes together, it can be a beautiful and more importantly free resource that can be used by teachers and students alike. 

Comments

  1. Alex SyDecember 10, 2019 at 6:36 PM

    I agree. Many of my textbooks go unused and collect a lot of dust after the class is over. The re-sell value is very low because the textbooks do not come with an online access codes. In my opinion, it depends on the professor. Some professors may encourage you to only buy the online textbook while others feel that the physical textbook is necessary and that hand-written work still must be done in a time of developing technology.

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