Digital texts to cut costs beginning summer 2011

As digital textbooks take flight, IU is negotiating a way to take off with them.

Next summer, a digital version of a textbook, or an eText, will be available for the first time through the Internet.

The eText Initiative doesn’t just include online text books, but will offer students opportunities for annotations that sync between computers, in-text hints from professors and digital problem sets. It will work similarly to a standard PDF.

“We thought that IU ought to be at the forefront to help its faculty and students figure out what we could do to drive the cost of textbooks down as digital textbooks became available,” said Brad Wheller, vice president for Information Technology.

For students who like to study with physical books, eTexts will allow printing, or for an additional cost of $20 to $35, students can request a professionally bound
book copy.

“This is not about digital or print. This is about digital and print,” Wheeler said.
IU’s current eText model predicts that students will spend 65 percent less than what they are currently paying for textbooks.

If a physical textbook normally costs $100, the eText model will only cost $35, and students will continue to have access to the book as long as he or she is a student at IU.

Beginning in summer 2011, faculty will be able to choose whether or not they would like to continue using a physical textbook or begin using eTexts.

In the future, students will be able to see if a course plans on using the eTexts at the time of enrollment.

“Our role is to make it possible and an option so that for faculty who would like to use this model, everything’s in place for them to do so,” Wheeler said. “There is no push to force or cause this to happen. It is up to the faculty.”

If students choose to enroll in a class that is using eTexts, all students will have to pay the fee even if they do not want to use the materials. Wheeler said the publishers will only offer the substantial discount if students are not allowed to opt out.

“We learned in working with the publishers that they were willing to substantially drop their prices if we changed how students buy textbooks,” he said. “If we charged an eText fee, kind of like a course fee, publishers were willing to negotiate.”

Wheeler said students don’t have a lot of negotiating power with the publishing companies. Wheeler compared it to IU’s ability to provide IUware to students at such a discounted price.

“It’s like software. If a student went to Best Buy and wanted to buy Microsoft Word, you don’t get to dictate what the price will be,” Wheeler said. “But as a University, we can negotiate the best deals and pass those on to the students.”

Publishing companies are willing to reduce the price so drastically, Wheeler said, because it will save them money on distribution, selling and warehouse costs.

A pilot eText program has been in effect for three semesters at IU. Some professors are able to try the initiative and give their feedback. Leah Shopkow, an associate professor in the department of history, participated in a pilot in one of her courses.

“I thought that the platform that they talked about offered some interesting possibilities for looking at how my students were reading and also for my students to share their responses to what they were reading,” Shopkow said.

In Shopkow’s pilot, students were able to make comments on the text and interact with the other students and the professor.

Shopkow said the eTexts would be a useful tool if they weren’t used in a big lecture class because interactions between students and the professor are harder in a class that size.

“I think it’s a good idea, but I also think for students to accept it, there has to be a lot more people on the campus who are using interactive learning,” Shopkow said.

The IU Student Association is also becoming involved in the eText Initiative so they can educate students and faculty about the technological and financial benefits of eTexts, IUSA chief of staff Neil Kelty, said.

“I firmly believe that the eTexts Initiative offers students a unique opportunity to leverage IU’s bargaining power with large publishing companies,” Kelty said. “This initiative will allow every IU student to save hundreds of dollars each semester.”