The importance of evaluating a textbook

Textbooks are not only about grouping a bunch of information to share with students so that they could learn from, but also they are about quality, precision, and affordability. So many students are not able to buy those textbooks because of their prices or either they bought them without even being interested in learning from it because of the length and unnecessary information. In this case textbooks represent a challenge for students.  I think OER does a good job into addressing these challenges. OER textbooks are affordable and the information from them is precise, simplified, and valuable. However, some of the OER textbooks fail to present enough study aids such as review questions and some tables. Because textbooks are a core part in students’ learning, I think they should take into account to evaluate the textbooks. It is going to help them extracting the good information out of it and decide whether this is valuable or not and take profit out of it. Their learning experience is going to enhance based on that.

If I was a professor selecting textbooks for my classes, I would consider the clarity, the important study aids, and the price of the textbooks. Not all students can afford to buy a textbook, which is very expensive and sometimes used for a short period of time, and read something which is not well structured or clear. The most important thing I learned from this seminar is the evaluation of study aids and structures in the textbooks because before I did not pay attention to those things. Now, I know better and I am going to use this knowledge when choosing my textbooks.