Struggling through college has become more a cliche than a problem with solutions.
The thought of a blanket-clad student in a small studio apartment, huddled over a text book, while Top Ramen cooks on the stove has become synonymous with the college experience.
But it is not just the cost of tuition that keeps some students up at night.
According to the Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, the cost of textbooks has risen 6 percent a year since the 1980s, twice the rate of inflation. Textbook publishing is currently a $9 billion industry.
But the Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland is one of the main institutions in the state attempting to curb that cost dramatically through an Open Course Library (OCL). The program is funded by a grant from the state and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The State Board of Community and Technical Colleges and other learning institutions are trying to utilize the internet to replace the textbook.
“We have an A and P (Anatomy and Physiology) textbook in our bookstore that costs $180,” said LWIT librarian Cheyenne Roduin, who has been working on the project. “And most average $150. Our goal is to bring that cost down to under $30.”
The cost of textbooks for an average student can easily be in the thousands of dollars over the course of earning a degree. In January of 2010 the University of Michigan Library published a study that showed a 186 percent increase in the cost of textbooks from 1986-2004.
The OCL is a collaboration between professors and librarians at the different schools to produce course materials without a textbook.
“The faculty does not have time to mine the internet for information,” said Roudin, who pointed out that the syllabus must meet the needs of the course by state standards. “We find the resources for the faculty. That allows them to create a unique program.”
The OCL has developed the materials for 42 of the states most populated college-level courses this year and is projected to expand to 81 courses by 2013.
LWIT developed four of the first 42 courses and is currently preparing for phase two.
“All the librarians know each other, we kind of have a secret hand shake,” joked Roudin. “We divided up the courses amongst us during the first meeting we had.”
Roudin and LWIT librarian Heath Davis took on the task of finding materials for Art 101, Anatomy and Physiology and two sections if a college success program was offered by many institutions, the first for incoming high school students and the second for those who were returning to school.
One of the biggest issues is to vet the source of the information online and make sure it is not copy written material.
Another issue is making sure that every student is able to access the information, even those with disabilities, and understand how to use it within the course curriculum.
Many, including Roudin, see more than just financial benefits from branching away from textbooks.
“I think you get more with not just having a book and lecture,” said Roudin, who points out that most teachers don’t even use a textbook from cover-to-cover. “I feel like it is our calling and duty to help our students.”
The materials, which include textbooks, syllabi, activities, readings and assessments, are designed to cost $30 or less per student. Most of that $30 is to print the materials off the internet. The materials are freely available online under an open license for use by Washington State’s 34 public learning institutions.
One study shows that the OCL could save students as much as $41.6 million annually.
