1. There are different situations where books can be a challenge. The first one is the perception of a book. I mean sometimes students before purchase a book, they judge and get conclusions by the first impression. If the book doesn’t satisfy the expectations of the reader and it is required for a semester, this can be a big challenge. Also, another tragic challenge is the price. Nowadays, most books are over the $200 and students cannot afford that amount of money. In addition, if the book doesn’t explain very well by using complex terms or not proper pedagogical aids is going to be complicated to understand it.
2. Since this program begun, I’ve noticed how this program focused on those points where students needed to be heard. Every class, all students gave their opinion about all the problems related to books and the system education, and the stuff understood these problems. Overall, I feel this program addresses the most fundamental problems.
3. Students should evaluate textbooks before start reading. Recognize every part of the book will allow the students to know more about every part of the book. In other words, see if the book has index, learning objectives, summary, glossary, and other pedagogical aids will help the student to go to the right place to understand a certain subject. Also, see the way how the book teach is important in order to understand the main subject.
4. If I were a professor, I think the important elements to choose the best book is the price, the quality of content, and the access to internet.
5. I learned a lot of subjects in this seminar. However, I think the most important thing is how fundamental is to analyze a book before reading or purchasing. Since the quality of the content is the essential part of the book, it’s necessary to see if the book make use of pedagogical aids and other elements that help the students to understand the different subjects of the book.

Textbooks are challenges for students based on criteria of Price, Content, and Availability. The issue of price regarding textbooks is important to students, who already face many burdens while attending school. The price of textbooks varies widely, and some textbooks used for a single course can commonly go for $3-400. When this price is compounded with a lack of use, one can empathize with students bearing such expense to use a book once or twice. Another challenge for students is that of content, textbooks may have too much extraneous content, too little of the course relevant content or vice versa. Poor selection of textbooks can force students subject to flowery language or over complication of simple topics. Textbook availability is another consideration for students. As commercial textbook providers seem to release a new edition almost every year, the availability of used copies becomes almost nonexistent. This issue is exasperated when specialized or austere textbooks are considered. The failure of manufacturers to provide enough books to bookstores can also force students into purchasing from resellers at inflated prices.

OER addresses these challenges by trying to make textbooks an open resource, free for all students and instructors. OER textbooks are unique in that they are written by individuals or collectives and put online for free. There are a few issues with the state of OER at the moment. Currently no single central repository exists for OER textbooks, making comparison of textbooks hard to do. The inherent danger in the OER method is that the quality of the textbook could be lower than the quality of a commercially produced textbook. This danger could be mitigated through work of an instructor or other textbook selecting entity to do quality control when selecting textbooks for courses.

The question of whether students should evaluate textbooks as part of their regular classwork is an interesting one. While such evaluations are extremely insightful for textbook selectors, they should be one of many criteria used when evaluating materials for course selection. Students should not go out of their way to select certain textbooks for courses, but an evaluative survey for a textbook, like those done for courses, should be enough to provide insight for faculty.

If I were to select a textbook for a course, the most important things I would consider are the frequency of usage throughout the course, the ability of the content to convey the information I want the students to learn, and the price for students to purchase or borrow. In the best case, If I know that the textbook would be frequently used, I might encourage students use the prior edition in order to save money and give them access to a larger used market.

The most important thing I learned from the OER seminar, is that as students we all have different opinions on what makes a strong textbook, and there is no one right answer. But if the conversation stays open about what makes a strong text, and whether those can be provided as free resources, then academia will be well on its way to improving the use of textbooks as a tool.

In what ways are textbooks a challenge for students?

Of course the most commonly encountered challenge is the sky high prices of a lot of textbooks. Especially when these textbooks are absolutely required for class while the material could be learned just as well with cheaper resources. Another challenge for students may be determining if the textbook is really comprehensive in learning the entire material for class or just the professor’s version of the material that he/she thinks is sufficient for students to just pass the class. Lastly, every student learns material in different ways. Some are visual learner and some are okay with a lot of text, assigning one textbook that might not be suited to a large group of students may prove unhelpful to some students.

What is one way OER addresses these challenges? What is one way OER fails to address them?

One way OER addresses the price challenge by making a lot of useful educational resources available not only to students but to teachers as well. The teachers can assess these resources and may determine that a lot more students may perform better in class if all of them have access to the resources unhindered by finances. One way OER fails to address challenges is in terms of content. The content may not be comprehensive enough as it might be in higher prices textbooks because effort in making the content may be held back by the lack of financial reward

Should students evaluate textbooks as part of their regular classwork/education? Why or why not?

Yes, they should so that professors that eventually pick the textbooks for class take the perspective of students into account. Because professors are so familiar with the content already then they might not realize how hard a textbook may be for a beginner to interpret.

Imagine you are a professor choosing a textbook for your class. What are three important ideas to consider when selecting a textbook for students?

1. Affordability- If the price is anything above a $100 for the textbook then a lot of students are going to have a hard time managing the expense. A consideration can be made if the text book is really good content wise and has a cheaper digital version available compared to the hard copy.
2. The amount of detailed and relevant pictures in the textbook. Pictures make the book interesting and visually pleasing to read and they are also easier to retain and interpret. Colorful pictures as well as real life pictures can give a student’s mind a break from all the overwhelming text.
3. How detailed the textbook is in terms of explaining the content. A lot of students may prefer books with simplistic and to the point ideas represented plainly. I believe that a student learns more and is able to apply the material if they are presented with examples, case studies and challenging concepts in a comprehensive manner.

What is the most important thing you learned from this seminar?

I learned about all the legal and financial aspect that goes into creating a text book such as funding and copyright. Taking all these into account, I realized that sometimes textbooks are not unnecessarily high priced. A lot of labor and equipment go into making these books in terms of intellect, printing and publishing costs, advertising costs etc. and the education we obtain in return may be worth the price.

Reflecting back on our work this semester, in what ways are textbooks a challenge for students?

Textbooks are a challenge for students in a way that they seem to be written for someone who already has some kind of prior knowledge and they automatically assume that the reader/student must be familiar with terminology, descriptions, and they tend proliferate knowledge by increasing the text volume and it feels as if they don’t make the book crazy big it wouldn’t be preferable  by schools. I  also don’t think  that the publishers would check and balance their books. Checking might be practiced by some other faculty and editors of their own, but don’t think that they get some kind of consultations of students or lay persons. So, my reviews throughout the semester and my prior knowledge and utilizing of the textbooks made me believe that the way textbooks are mostly formatted can be a barrier between the student/learner/seeker and the knowledge.

What is one way OER addresses these challenges? What is one way OER fails to address them?

OER addresses these challenges by utilizing the students who are in the end the real customers of the textbooks and they are the ones who can decide if the textbook is helpful in what ways.

One way the OER might be failing that  I am not sure how much OER has some kind of enforcement on utilizing textbooks and which ones would be fit for the appropriate levels, and how much a student for that specific class can make a nice blend of online sources in use. How much is the two way communications between the OER and the student/instructor(s)/faculties/departments open for productivity. Is this communication based on advise or on some kind of sanctions. Of course an instructor will claim that her/his textbook is the best, but what about the student’s opinion? The way the instructors were requiring the textbooks almost made me think that they might be taking some commissions from the sales.

Should students evaluate textbooks as part of their regular classwork/education? Why or why not?

Yes, definitely. Because in the end the student is the one who has first hand learning experience, not the instructor.

Imagine your are a professor choosing a textbook for your class. What are three important ideas to consider when selecting a textbook for students?

The most important one would be if the textbook addresses the level, especially for introductory courses. Whether the content fit for the group of students as a whole, not for a few individuals who had their way out of challenges who the rest of the students would be facing on a regular basis. Also simplicity is very important and less is more. If the book is pages long over a 100, I’d have my high hopes fall because what are the odds that we’d be retaining the pages of information in such a short period time. I see more and more textbooks and instructors are having hard time explaining topics simply and cannot stop thinking of “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

What is the most important thing you learned from this seminar?

Textbooks matter that it can help us come over the challenges we experience during our educational journey or can be another challenge itself by causing us lose our motivation..

1. Well,  one of the first textbook challenges is certainly affordability (price), and then the coverage of materials which can be overly extensive to get frustrated by  just a glance at it, or relatively poor to get some questions hanging.  The another factor is legitimacy of the material – who are the authors of certain materials provided and what is their agenda: critical-thinking centered or fixed stymie thinking?

2. With all respect, I appreciated  OER`s approach of addressing technical and pedagogical aspects of textbooks. Via these inquiries, I believe that quality of textbooks might be amplified in long-term. Yet, I also think OER failed to address the learning aspects via textbooks. By this I mean, along with pedagogical and technical qualities, accentuation is also required to evaluate how textbooks are transmitting knowledge: did the student actually learn something from textbook except memorized parts?

3. From my perspective, textbooks reinforce learning processes and  academic performance, but don`t guarantee them. Therefore, it`s totally up to students whether to evaluate them as regular classwork  or  supportive learning material.

4. First – affordability to students: not every student has good financial situation to purchase an expensive book.

Second- relevancy of materials: Do materials covered in a textbook actually relevant to class` teachings.

Third – freshness of materials: updated materials with new findings make a textbook more valuable than old coverings.

5. I never paid attention that pedagogical and technical aspects of a textbook can correlate interest to textbook itself, and therefore to learn materials with more passion. So, appearance of the textbook also effects student`s will  and motivation to learn it, doesn`t it?  At the same level, I learned a lot about textbook publishing industry and its properties (i.e. copyright, creative commons etc.)

1. The textbooks can bring challenges to students by a mismatch between target students’ affordability and the price of the textbooks. Besides, entry-level students may find a textbook challenging and hard to navigate if the textbook uses sophisticated language to explain terms and concepts.
2. By lowering the price of printed textbooks and providing free e-textbook and other online instructional resources, OER makes textbooks affordable. Also, students could have a free rein to choose the textbook that matches their levels and most effectively facilitates their understanding when they go through the OER textbook pool – and they can do it free of change.
3. Although it is good to encourage students to evaluate the textbooks they use, and authors and publishers working on improving the quality of their textbooks could never acquire the readers and users’ point of view without asking students opinion, I don’t think students would have the time and motive to evaluate their textbook systematically. If the evaluation process is mandatory, the evaluation will be burdensome for students and it becomes less possible to expect thoughtfulness from students.
4. If I were a professor choosing a textbook for students, the quality of its review questions, the examples it uses (whether they are updated and related to our daily life), and its clarity would be three of my major concerns.
5. One of the most important things I learned during the OER seminar was the importance of a textbook’s visual design. If there are two books containing the same contents, most students would prefer the one with larger font size and more figures and tables.