Resources
Institutions, investments, and online innovation
F
ionnuala Duggan, Managing Director of CourseSmart, shares with Education Today her views on the concept that ‘e should be free’ when it comes to digital and online resources in higher education.
“The growing belief among students that digital content should be ‘off cost’ (at least to them), could hinder innovation. Let’s start by addressing the first half of this statement. By and large, students expect that digital materials will be free.
Can’t pay, won’t pay
We recently conducted a study of 1,652 UK higher education students with the NUS. This study revealed that 98 per cent of students expect some online content to be free. However, a worrying 44 per cent expect educational books that are online to be free to access too. Similarly, a recent study by Bowker Market Research indicated that 48 per cent of UK students using eBooks were likely to acquire them for free, borrowing them digitally from their library or through file sharing. Of those students who admitted to illegal downloading of books, 22 per cent believe some book content should be free.
The message, as the students in a focus group we conducted in July said, is clear: online should be ‘off-cost’.
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www.education-today.co.uk
“I’ve never paid for anything educational online,” explained one student in the focus group, “even though the journals want me to pay.” That having been said, the trend here isn’t so much that students always expect digital content to be free; nor is it that students ascribe no value to what’s online. Rather, they expect academic materials, particularly online academic materials, to be free at the point of access. In the NUS study, 81 per cent of students felt universities should offer textbooks for free as part of their fees, thus shifting the cost to the institution. Our study also confirmed that 99 per cent of students have a digital device, of which 70 per cent expect to use their device for reading educational books. This means students are online, all set up and ready to go.
A threat to progress
This brings me to the second part of my statement. As someone working in digital education, I am concerned that the idead ‘e means free’ is a long-term threat to innovation, one that could ultimately act against the best interests of students.
The process for creating new digital materials is time consuming, risky and requires investment. There are many people involved, including academics, authors, editors and technology experts, who work together with great care and attention to produce high-quality material for students for use both online and offline.
Let’s take eResources, which are online educational tools like quizzes, often connected to a given eTextbook. Publishers create eResources by integrating audio, video, and interactive elements into course materials (such as homework solutions) that are revolutionising teaching methods. Over time publishers have invested in building an understanding of the structure students need to pass their exams. They work alongside lecturers to deliver resources that align with current teaching practices. Perhaps more importantly, publishers have the editorial experience, in-house expertise, technology, and tools to make these investments. None of this is free. I’ve been in the digital publishing industry for many years, at Random House as a Digital Director and now at CourseSmart, a company that rents eTextbooks to students and institutions. I have a great interest in seeing how things work out. The educational sector stands to benefit enormously from the great changes technology and innovation in learning materials can offer. I only hope they get the opportunity to do so.”
uwww.coursesmart.co.uk October 2012
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