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  • Open textbooks...

    • Save students money. Open textbooks offer both digital editions and printed copies. Students can download digital editions for free or order print copies at a low price.
    • Allow for flexible content. Students can access the content in their preferred format, on their preferred platform. Professors can customize the material to match their course needs. Video, audio, and other interactive content can be embedded in digital editions.
    • Help students succeed. A recent, multi-institutional study showed that students using open textbooks in their courses performed as well or better than students using traditional textbooks and that they enrolled in more courses the following semester. Students using online open textbooks also gain ICT (information communication technology) skills. 

    It is estimated by the College Board that undergraduate students can expect to pay upwards of $1,200 a year for ​​​textbooks and supplies. The cost of textbooks impacts student success and retention. Students who participated in the 2018 Florida Student Textbook Survey answered that, at least once over the course of their academic careers, the cost of required textbooks caused them to:

    64.2% Not purchase the required textbook
    42.8% Take fewer courses
    40.5% Not register for a specific course
    35.6% Earn a poor grade because I could not afford to buy the textbook
    22.9% Drop a course
    Open textbooks are textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. - OPEN TEXTBOOK LIBRARY

    Like traditional textbooks, open textbooks are written by experts in the field and undergo a process of peer review and professional editing and development. Unlike the traditional publishing model, publishers and authors of open textbooks are paid for their labor upfront by the funding organization or grant, instead of relying on sales to pay back their investments.

    Open Textbook Library 
    • Open Access
    • The Open Textbook Library at the University of Minnesota offers a catalog of open, peer-reviewed textbooks that can be downloaded for free. 
    OpenStax 
    • Open Access
    Open SUNY Textbooks 
    • Open Access
    BCcampus Open Ed 
    • Open Access
    Saylor Academy 
    • Open Access
    American Institute of Mathematics 
    • Open Access
    InTech 
    • Open Access
    MIT OpenCourseWare: Online Textbooks 
    • Open Access
    College Open Textbooks 
    • Open Access
    The Global Text Project 
    • Open Access
    FLOSS Manuals 
    • Open Access