Dani Guzman, Ex Libris
There is an array of options nowadays for delivering assigned reading and resources to students in academic institutions. In “Battle over College Course Material is a Textbook Example of Technological Change,” columnist Danielle Douglas-Gabriel runs through some of them, including multimedia courseware, open-source textbooks, open educational resources (OER), and password-protected online material (using an access code paid for by the student).
This growing complexity, lower demand for hard-copy basic-level textbooks, and rising prices for advanced textbooks has led to the innovation of inclusive-access programs. As described in January 2017 by Carl Straumsheim, Technology Correspondent for Inside Higher Ed, inclusive access means that students need not purchase reading list resources on their own; rather, they “pay a course fee that provides access to course materials—delivered digitally unless students pay extra for a print-on-demand copy—on the first day of class.”
