Collaboration is Key to Innovative Textbook Affordability Solutions
Collaboration is Key to Innovative Textbook Affordability Solutions is a scholarly work, published in 2016 in ''Against the Grain''. The main subjects of the publication include business, interactive whiteboard, lock, recognition of prior learning, and computer science. Ibraries have long been leaders of collaboration in higher education.Librarians frequently jump into a leadership role and act as catalysts for their colleges and universities, nimbly adopting, and then helping faculty and students adapt to new ideas and processes for improving how they access, compile, and use information.At no time has this knowledge of the variety of content and formats been more critical than today, as technology fuels the proliferation of options, and increasing costs push higher-education institutions to evaluate how learning content is sourced, selected and priced, and how it ultimately contributes to student success.John Naisbitt's populist quote increasingly rings true; the students of today are "…drowning in information but starved for knowledge."It's a tall order, finding the sweet spot that upholds faculty requirements while meeting the cost expectations and learning preferences of students.Options that run the gamut from print and electronic textbooks to digital media to course packs and Open Educational Resources (OER) must be considered through a lens of other issues that include publishing costs, content licensing, and budget constraints.While technology offers many options, today's faculty span several generations of teaching styles.The intersections of pedagogy and technology strategy are inconsistent and frequently inelegant.Librarians and other campus stakeholders stand in the center of an increasingly complex challenge.Fortunately, no single department has to shoulder this alone.Forward-thinking groups at campuses across the country are forming partnerships to pool their ideas and resources.They're developing solutions to satisfy students and faculty, as well as administrators, as they improve quality and availability of learning content while working within budget limitations and even reducing costs.