The North Dakota legislature now has a resolution urging college profs to make use of open textbooks. The concern seems to be that students pay an average of $1000 a year in textbook costs (see beer money ploy – trust me it makes more sense than you might think).
The following is a YouTube video of the discussion. I had no idea YouTube had such content. What I am trying to determine is whether I agree with the definition of “open” textbook that is being used. I am trying to decide if they are confusing ebooks and “open” digital books. If the assumption is that an ebook is sold by textbook companies at a greatly reduced price, this is not actually the case. I checked the Intro Psych book I will use in the Fall – the difference between the digital and the paperback version is less than $20.
My interpretation of open would look more like the California model. However, California contributed funds to generate this content.
he [Gov. Brown] also signed off on a proposal for the state to fund 50 open source digital textbooks. He signed two bills, one to create the textbooks and the other to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host them
Perhaps the North Dakota model is to borrow from California. This is evidently what the politicians mean when they promote the “North Dakota Way.”