The NY Times “Your Money” section carried a piece on ad-supported textbooks. The columns is informative for those interested in the “cost” issue and primarily explores one solution – ad supported texts. Among the other options explained is Pearson’s ebook subscription plan (access is for a fixed amount of time).
The Times column seems to indicate that instructor independence in selecting textbooks has been an obstacle to innovation. I certainly understand why profs would not like the department or institution telling them which book or which “plan” they were to assign. I also would be somewhat concerned about requiring students to adopt an ebook. Perhaps those occasions on which both a book and ebook are available would provide the way to ease into allowing students options.
