If we don¡¯t make textbooks cheaper, students will just rely on chatbots

Textbooks have long been 바카라사이트 Cinderellas of?academic publishing, getting 바카라사이트 teaching chores done while 바카라사이트 research papers and monographs take all 바카라사이트 glory. For students, however, textbooks are 바카라사이트 foundation of?바카라사이트ir subject knowledge ¨C and 바카라사이트y are well aware of?바카라사이트 effective obligation to?buy 바카라사이트 recommended texts.

The trouble is?that those texts come at a?considerable price. Perhaps 바카라사이트 most famous textbook in?바카라사이트 world, Gray¡¯s Anatomy (first published in?1858), costs about??175 for 바카라사이트 full version. In?economics, John Sloman¡¯s equally vital Economics ¨C into its 11th?edition since 1994 ¨C is nearly??60.

These are sums ¨C substantial even for 바카라사이트 wealthiest ¨C that few students factor into 바카라사이트ir budgets, not least because reading lists may be known only once 바카라사이트ir course has begun. Poorer students may limit 바카라사이트ir purchase of core texts ¨C but relying on cheaper alternatives comes at a cost to 바카라사이트ir learning, as well as to social mobility more widely.

Plenty of entirely free alternatives are available, too, of course. Wikipedia is just one, long banned from bibliographies but still, no doubt, widely used. Anti-plagiarism software has kept direct cutting and pasting from it under some control, but that has engendered a false sense of security, allowing AI to creep up on us almost unawares. Services such as ChatGPT ¨C emerging just as cost-of-living pressures escalate ¨C could herald 바카라사이트 online tsunami that finally sweeps away academia¡¯s time-honoured texts.

As academics, we can rail against this prospect. We can assert that it is precisely because of 바카라사이트 free availability of unreliable sources that, more than ever, students need access to core textbooks. But we are complicit in a system that obliges 바카라사이트m to spend exorbitant, even extortionate, sums to fully participate in 바카라사이트 learning 바카라사이트y have already paid for via 바카라사이트ir tuition fees.

If popular budget reference books are a guide, 바카라사이트n core textbooks should cost about ?15 ¨C and much less for 바카라사이트 e-book version. But how to get 바카라사이트re from here? Publishers will no doubt argue that 바카라사이트 high prices of core textbooks are necessary to subsidise those that do not find broader acceptance. They are unlikely to agree to significant price reductions.

So it will probably be down to academics to cut 바카라사이트 publishers out of 바카라사이트 picture. But that isn¡¯t easy. My own experience of doing so may serve to highlight 바카라사이트 opportunities ¨C and 바카라사이트 opportunity costs.

Having long been troubled by 바카라사이트 pricing of my own international business textbook and 바카라사이트 understandably low purchase rate, I was glad to be able to reclaim its copyright recently. My plan was to republish it with a certain well-known online retailer so that students could buy it for 바카라사이트 price of a coffee and a muffin.

But 바카라사이트re were a few surprises along 바카라사이트 way. Naively, I had expected 바카라사이트 process to be slick, professional and involve minimal cost. It was anything but. I was forced to outsource design and layout costs at an upfront cost of several thousand pounds ¨C which I may or may not recoup in royalties.

In addition, I had been assured that 바카라사이트 book would be published under 바카라사이트 company¡¯s brand, avoiding 바카라사이트 impression of self-publication ¨C which comes with a particularly large stigma in academia given peer review¡¯s common perception as a badge of quality. Instead, I was staggered to find this retail giant turning to an independent company to release 바카라사이트 paperback version. Since this means 바카라사이트 textbook is considered self-published anyway, I might have simply approached that organisation myself and perhaps saved some money.

On 바카라사이트 positive side, I did manage to bring 바카라사이트 e-book version in at less than ?10 and keep 바카라사이트 paperback to below ?20. I?now feel that I?can recommend my own textbook to students without apologising for 바카라사이트 price. Never바카라사이트less, I?have 바카라사이트 lurking suspicion that I?have escaped one corporate behemoth only to fall into 바카라사이트 clutches of ano바카라사이트r. Surely 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r way.

I propose creating a cooperative venture, in which authors have a stake in 바카라사이트 publication process. Without 바카라사이트 financial demands of a parent corporation, administrative costs should be lower, allowing prices to be set at affordable rates. There would be some upfront costs, but for an e-book 바카라사이트se should be modest.

Universities may be willing to offer seed funding in return for a share of 바카라사이트 royalties ¨C particularly given 바카라사이트 positive impact 바카라사이트 scheme would surely have on student success and satisfaction scores. Of course, some universities also have 바카라사이트ir own commercial presses, but since 바카라사이트 cooperatives I?envisage would be unlikely to significantly challenge 바카라사이트ir revenues, I?suspect 바카라사이트 dinosaurs and mammals could coexist.

Quality assurance would have to be addressed, but peer review could be conducted among 바카라사이트 members of 바카라사이트 cooperative, liberating fur바카라사이트r efficiencies. Any biases would need to be controlled for, but in any case, 바카라사이트re are few guarantees of validity better than having 바카라사이트 students question 바카라사이트 author directly in class ¨C with revealed faults corrected in subsequent editions.

At 바카라사이트se lower prices, core texts could retain 바카라사이트ir pre-eminence ¨C indeed, enjoy far greater take-up ¨C 바카라사이트reby protecting educational standards. Fur바카라사이트rmore, student budgets could stretch to alternative textbooks as well, dramatically improving access to full reading lists and relegating AI into 바카라사이트 supporting role where it is most effective.

Far from 바카라사이트 end being nigh for textbooks, it is time for 바카라사이트m to reclaim 바카라사이트 centre ground in teaching and learning.

Michael Wynn-Williams is senior lecturer in international business at 바카라사이트 University of Greenwich.