New Strategy would Drop College Textbook Costs to Zero

By CARRIE WELLS, McClatchy News

Unlike electronic versions of textbooks sold by publishers, open-source textbooks are made up of materials gathered from various sources and are not protected by copyright. They are often designed to be interactive, with links to source material and multimedia elements. The materials are licensed openly, so anyone with an Internet connection can access them. A pilot program, which the Maryland university system estimates is saving 1,100 students a combined $130,000, is the latest in a shift on the nation’s campuses toward digital learning. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California State University system and the Washington State college system are among those that have built libraries of free online course materials in recent years. Still, open-source textbooks, which have been around for several years, face challenges and have not caught on broadly.

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/New-Strategy-would-Drop-College-Textbook-Costs-to-Zero-cde.html

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