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.
