PARKERSBURG - West Virginia University at Parkersburg is looking at an innovative way to reduce textbook costs for students.
The college will be rolling out its first electronic open-source textbook this fall, written and developed by college instructors and available for the Kindle and other e-readers.
"We are tired of our students paying more for textbooks than they do for tuition," said Rhonda Richards, senior vice president for academic affairs at WVU-P. "We are looking at cheaper alternatives to textbooks, including creating our own electronic textbooks."
According to the college's program plan, the project aims to provide "low-cost, open-source textbooks developed by faculty for students in WVU Parkersburg's first-year experience courses as well as developmental courses in mathematics and English/writing."
Richards said the textbooks will be written by teams of faculty and reviewed by a third party to make sure they meet certain academic standards. The plan also includes the purchase of multiple e-readers for some classrooms and a student fee of about $5 for the electronic book.
In most cases the students will still have to buy their own e-readers, though, but the cost of a single e-reader, around or below $200, is often less expensive than a regular textbook.
The first book will be developed for adult students transitioning to college, followed by developmental mathematics and developmental English course texts.
The project is expected to cost around $30,000, which includes the price of multiple classroom e-readers and stipends for faculty working to develop the electronic materials.
The move comes even as colleges, universities and students across the nation look for ways to reduce the ever-growing cost of textbooks. Students can easily spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on books each semester, retrieving only a fraction of that money by later selling those books back to stores or to other students.
Barnes & Noble recently announced a textbook rental program which is being piloted in colleges around the nation. Colleges also are looking at adopting different kinds of e-reader technology.
Marietta College so far has not looked at implementing any kind of electronic or discount textbook system on campus, said spokesman Tom Perry, but many students have expressed interest in switching to an electronic format.
"I know a number of students have talked about e-textbooks," he said. "A number are hoping they can transition to that at some point.
"But as for an organized program on campus for e-books or ways to reduce textbook costs, we don't have anything like that at this point."
