There are a large number of students that photocopy text books wholesale. Is this any better/worse then downloading a DVD? Probably not. I am writing a text book of my own now, so I my position may might be biased.
Yet I find the position somewhat conflicted. While for many years I have been a fan of the GNU GPL (freesoftware) movement, and copyleft ideals. I have written about the creative commons before also.
I am a big supporter of applying as much of these ideas to education. Wikipedia is of course the biggest example of open sourced knowable. MIT open courseware is another great example. The University of Michigan has yet another like portal of their own. Closer to home, USQ is also jumping on the bandwagon . Maybe legally free is the way to go.
 |
| Sometimes, you have to find away around the attitude rather than try to fight it head on. |
Even still, I don't feel so good when I see students with 500 pages of photocopied text book in class. But then at the same time I think "at least they turned up and at least they've got something in their fingers." Most students are too lazy to even turn up to class.
Moreover, I am sick of trying to teach students without text books. They damage their own learning, and failing them is not sufficient incentive to change behavior. As it is, we (educators) are pressured not to fail too many. So even if the entire bell cure is poor, that does not mean we can afford to fail everyone that is "not yet competent". Only the most poor portion will fail. It is quite common to see educators try to jocky everyone else across that magical pass line.
So I propose this, FORCE new text books on everyone and include it in the cost of tuition. To make it more appealing, we should ensure that as this is a mandatory requirement it is likewise included in your HELP loan, meaning that your education isn't draining up front to those that can not afford it. Indeed, this is more inline with the spirit of the HECS system anyway.
Potential problems:
* This may/will create an oversupply of used text books. An immediate counter argument is that students really ought to be keeping a professional library if they are serious about their education and their profession anyway.
* What if a student fails and must repeat? - Then you ought not have to repurchase, this can be found from internal records however.
* Other pros/cons listed below by your comments. Email me at phillipjustinwong@gmail.com
