Help Lower Textbook Costs for Students

Are you a librarian, instructional designer, academic staff member, or student concerned about the impact of high textbook costs on Drexel students? Do you want to learn more about open textbooks so you can support faculty who are exploring or interested in adopting open textbooks? During this workshop, you’ll learn about high-quality, open educational resources.

Did You Know...

The high cost of some course materials can impede students’ academic success. The College Board estimates that the average undergraduate can budget $1,220 - $1,420 for textbooks and supplies in 2017–18. The cost of textbooks is rising at a rate of 4 times inflation. Seven out of 10 students don’t purchase a required textbook during their academic career because of cost. 60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid.

Open Textbooks

Open textbooks can help alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provide faculty with content that can be customized for their course. Open textbooks are full, real textbooks, used by many faculty across the country, and licensed to be freely used, edited, and distributed.

What You Can Do

Attend this workshop! During this session, attendees will learn more about the following topics:

• Open and OER - what it is and what it isn't
• How issues of affordability can impact student academic success
• Open textbooks as a solution to affordability issues
• Identifying faculty barriers to adoption of open textbooks and how to help overcome those barriers
• Supporting faculty adoptions of open textbooks, including an introduction to the Open Textbook Library
• Ways to integrate supporting open education into pre-existing workflows

Registration Information

This session is designed for Drexel librarians, instructional designers and academic staff who want to learn more about Open Textbooks and support faculty who are interested in adopting open textbooks. Registration is required, as space is limited. Please register to attend by completing the form below by Monday, December 3, 2018.

Contact Larry Milliken, Manager for Learning Partnerships, at lpm27@drexel.edu or visit the Open Educational Resources Library Guide for more information about the Drexel Libraries’ open education initiatives.