October 6, 2008
U. of Texas Students Will Get E-Textbooks Instead of Paper Ones
Starting this coming spring, the University of Texas at Austin will buy e-textbooks as part of an experiment to help students save money.
“If the program, which campus and industry officials say has been tried at other schools, is successful, students would pay $25 to $40 a book in licensing fees,” reports the Austin American-Statesman, but the costs for the university will be much, much higher.
“Courses in chemistry, biochemistry, marketing and accounting will use e-textbooks in the pilot program, which could cost $300,000 to $400,000 for an academic year and include about 1,000 students during the 2009-10 school year.” —Scott Carlson
Posted on Monday October 6, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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This is a GREAT idea! As a former Student Body President, textbook costs were always a hot topic for students. Anyway to save money for students is a good thing, as tuition costs continue to increase.
— Rudy Trejo Oct 6, 05:36 PM #
It might be a great idea, but if it costs $300,000 for 1000 students, that’s $300 an e-book. That’s MORE than the physical textbook. If the institution subsidizes the cost to the tune of $260 per book per class per year, they’re either going to have to raise tuition or find a donor to endow the program.
— Kyle Johnson Oct 6, 06:38 PM #
Note that it’s not $300 per e-book, but $300-$400 per student for a full year. If the students are chosen so that the majority of their courses will be using the e-books, that would represent a real savings.
— Atokal Oct 7, 06:20 AM #
the publishers and all the others who benefit from hard-bound textbooks may take a hit, but think about the greening of the industry. What price do we place on using our resources more wisely?
— Frank Page Oct 7, 08:21 AM #
BUT…there are typically tradeoffs w/ e-books. For instance, an e-book can be available for a specific, limited time (e.g., 6 months). Not everyone is comfortable w/ every technology. I haven’t use a text in years in my ed tech grad courses. If I can do it, so can others. Bypass the whole print v. electronic book debate by going right to the Internet to find articles, etc. Not e-books, but e-courses. Big difference, starting with $-0- cost.
— John Thompson Oct 7, 08:38 AM #
As a doctoral student, the e-book option is not only about saving money, but rather having what I need at all times. The weight alone of carrying gigantic texts and journals is enough to buckle anyones knees. Now, if PDF readers could be made more affordable to read documents from JSTOR – that would be something!
— Cynthia Oct 7, 08:44 AM #
As a Disability Services provider, I’m excited that this will signficantly reduce the amount of time we must make to acquire electronic textbooks for our students with visual impairments using screenreading software to access textbook material. Right now, most disability services departments across the country must make requests to publishers for each individual textbook needed in electronic format, and the student must provide proof of purchase of a hard copy book (which they will never use) before gaining access to a free copy of the electronic textbook. Ideally, visually impaired students should be able to forgo the purchase of a hard copy (which they won’t use) and directly purchase an etext. Students get their books immediately upon purchase, publishers still make sales, and students would not have to work through an intermediary (the disability services office) to get their books. And my disability services department can spend more resources on other support initiatives for our students….
— A Disability Services Provider Oct 7, 08:55 AM #
Has anyone at U. of Texas asked the students what they think about this idea? Even students at online institutions usually opt for the more expensive paper version of textbooks-there is just a major turn-off with ebooks. Even those in the textbook industry don’t know why….
— Jen Oct 7, 09:14 AM #
#7 right on and everyone would benefit, especially auditory learners.
— mk Oct 7, 10:23 AM #
Re. Frank Page’s comment about publishers et. al. taking a hit, who do you think get’s those licensing fees? Publishers and their agents. The people that will take a hit may be the students, or other departments that will loose funding (the $300,000 will have to come from somewhere), and the Campus Store. Campus store’s, while often given a bad rap, generally work very hard to keep costs low for students and look at all options to keep costs down. Many college stores also return revenues to the University’s general fund. If they loose money so to does the institution. Obviously I am a college store employee and can be accused of being biased. I just hope that all the stake holders, students, faculty, administration, bookstore etc. are all participating in those conversations about helping students keep college affordable since we all care about the issue. All that being said, I am excited about the possibilities offered by e-books.
— SPope Oct 7, 10:28 AM #
Older students still prefer to read hard copies, so that they can engage with the text (underline, highlight) – I think it needs to be optional, ebook (which many of my younger colleagues would love) and physical textbooks (for those who love books on their shelves and to write and engage physically with the text). I’m all for going green, and saving money, but I think what students really need are simply more options.
— TR Oct 7, 10:33 AM #
One of the VA Universities used e-books; then they had an ice storm the week before finals. No electricity; no computer; no e-textbooks. Once the lights came back on a week later, the faculty had to all give “Open book tests” since no one had had time to study. Hmmmm.
E-books are disabled after 4-6 months (depending on the licensing agreement). They also require a computer or e-book reader PLUS electricity. The battery on my laptop is good for about 2 hours, requiring me to be near a plug in as much as possible. At the University, this is untenable for all the students. Only the select few can plug in so they’ll have access to their e-book during class and between classes for studying.
Next semester when I am writing a paper and need that info or citation from last semester’s e-book, I will not have it. If my hardcopy was on my shelf, I would have this info for life.
Anyone going to graduate school or into the workplace (in a professional position) needs to consider these issues before converting to e-books…since your textbooks are professional resource materials for life. College teaches us to think holistically, not in just a linear manner. There are more considerations than initial cost. The students need to think long-term, as well.
— MM PhD Oct 7, 12:15 PM #
I used an e-book accounting textbook (free from FreeloadPress.com) for a year but returned to a conventional book because students did not bring the e-book to class on laptops. Would try it again if laptops were required and affordable. The price of textbooks is outrageous.
— Donald D Ramsey Oct 7, 12:40 PM #
I don’t read anything about how the number of computers on which the e-book can be read. All of the schemes I know about limit the student to reading the e-book text on just one computer, lest a student share the password with friends and the publisher doesn’t sell as many books. Being restricted to reading a book on a single computer seems to me like an unreasonable restriction, as you are carrying around a computer instead of a book.
Further, the NET cost of a textbook to a student is the purchase price less the resale price at the end of the semester. Given the fact that an e-book user has nothing to resell, the saving is not as great as it appears.
— socrates Oct 7, 12:50 PM #
Think about how many hours students will have to add at looking at a screen. I personally prefer reading books in their printed form as I know that a) my eyes wont suffer by spending hours and hours looking at a screen and b) I don’t have to waste energy by turning on a computer just to read a book. You should support buy-back programs of old textbooks and selling those books to students at a reduced rate.
— Victoria Oct 7, 02:18 PM #
Read the “Course Correction” report that came out of OSPIRG: http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/course_correction.pdf
— Cable Green Oct 7, 05:28 PM #
I think this is a good example of what Guy Adams wrote about in his “administrative evil” articles. Essentially a decision by adminstration that on the surface seems to be reasonable in that it is efficient and possibly cost-effective for the students; however, in the end, if this type of policy were carried out to the extreme (i.e.; the option to purchase a hard copy was not available) then those who have difficulty reading online/digital material would suffer an unintended negative consequence
— todd Oct 7, 08:23 PM #