Textbooks and Access Codes
Textbooks are unreasonably expensive, everyone is aware of that. But to couple an access code for course material with the purchase of a textbook? That just seems greedy to an unprecedented level.
The Application
To illustrate my point, I’ll explain how I didn’t purchase a textbook at all for my most recently completed term at SNHU. I didn’t even purchase the auxiliary materials. I literally paid tuition, and that’s it.
For my first class, I got a digital rental of the textbook. In a digital format, I could get it instantly, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing or damaging it before I returned it, and I could access it from any device that I own. I kept up with reading for the first few weeks, but I eventually slacked off when I realized that I could handle the coursework without the extra aid of reading the textbook.
At the start of my second course, I decided that I would try the work without purchasing the material at all. Worst case scenario, I discover that I need the book, I go online and purchase the digital rental, and I have access to the book within like 5 minutes. Not only did this class recommend a textbook, but it also “required” a roughly $5 collection of case study artifacts. Out of principle, I didn’t purchase that either. I figured I could wing it until I absolutely had to have one or both of these items.
For 10 weeks, I used a lot of Google searches, but I did not once buy, rent, or in any way obtain the “required” materials for this course. I cited the textbook in the reference page for basically every assignment that I completed, but I don’t have a clue what the first word was. At the end of the class, I finished with an A-. I just used Google and the provided course material, and I got the second highest grade possible.
Clearly, textbooks are not necessary. Proving in a trial by fire that I could get a decent (or even good) grade without the required materials, I decided to follow this practice in all subsequent courses. At $50 or more a pop, I would save a significant sum of money over the course of my degree by foregoing the purchase of textbooks unless absolutely necessary.
The Wrench in the Gears
This plan to pass on textbook purchases came to an abrupt halt in starting my third course at SNHU. Instead of offering a traditional textbook, this course required a “zyBook” purchase. I learned that zyBooks is a platform or ecosystem of sorts, that gives digital access to related reading, as activities that demonstrate the material in action.
As much as this zyBooks thing may sound like a good way to learn new material, there were a few implications that I strongly opposed. First, it meant that I had to go through the SNHU bookstore. Since it was sold as an access code instead of a traditional textbook, other bookstores didn’t even have the book listed. Not only was the book unavailable from other purveyors, I wouldn’t have trusted it even if it was. I’ve had bad experiences with buying access codes from third party suppliers in the past, so I’ll typically go through the school bookstore for those items. Even if I oppose the idea of bookstores as school profit centers, if I need a code for a class, I don’t want to risk having to buy it twice.
The second implication about this zyBook only dawned on me during the first week of class. When working through the work for the first module, one of the items mentioned completing the activities for chapters 1 and 2 of the zyBook. There was no way to turn these items in on Brightspace, so I figured maybe they were optional. Sure, I *could* do them for practice, but if I wasn’t graded on them, why waste my time?
I looked through the grades page on Brightspace, and it listed distinct items for the zyBooks activities. If I couldn’t turn these in on Brightspace, how in the world could I actually get credit for them. Not wanting to get to the last minute and risk missing deadlines, I asked about the zyBooks assignments in the class discussion board. After a few hours, some students responded and suggested that the professor could monitor our progress in those activities on zyBooks and then manually populate these grades in Brightspace. The professor came along later and confirmed this hypothesis.
While I wasn’t quite furious, I was certainly frustrated. The access code for the zyBook was $48.60 from the SNHU bookstore. While I’ve certainly paid more for textbooks in the past, this was essentially me purchasing a subset of the course content. If I didn’t pay for the material, I wouldn’t have access to the zyBooks activities. If I didn’t complete the zyBooks activities, I would receive failing grades on those items. Considering how many of those items were listed in the grade book, and their respective weights, I would surely fail the class if I didn’t buy the zyBooks access code and complete them.
Extortion, is what that is. If you don’t pay for this auxiliary item, I’ll fail you. Nevermind the fact that I’ve already paid $1,881 for the course. Nevermind the fact there is already a platform (Brightspace) on which SNHU students can receive course material and participate in assessment activities. Nope, we have to pony up an extra half a Benjamin (a Grant, if you will) for access to the full collection of course material.
I tweeted to SNHU about. They responded, asking me to privately message them. I told them that I wasn’t happy with having to pay for access to course material when I already paid tuition. They suggested I could apply for scholarships. First, I’m in a Master’s program, so scholarships are basically nonexistent. Second, it’s not about me specifically having to pay the money. It’s about the principle of the matter. No student, having already paid for tuition, should have to pay another fee to access the remainder of the class content. That’s ridiculous.
In conclusion, realize that if a university calls a textbook or access code “required,” they may be right. Even if you as a student already know the material, and could easily pass the assessments without buying the book, you might still be strong-armed into buying the book or code. Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Is it absurd? You bet. But they call the shots, and if they want to make you pay more money for extra material, apparently they can. My nihilistic view of higher education just got a little more bleak.
The Theory
My opinion on textbooks is that they should serve as auxiliary material only. Tuition is expensive enough as is, and if I’m paying you to teach me, you should be able to teach me without banking on a book as well. Give me all of the course material, the assignments, the exams, and any other required material, all for the cost of the course itself. If I want extra help, the textbook should be there as an option.
If you do need a book, bake it into the cost of the course. If both the class and the book are necessary, but only one of those is part of “tuition,” it’s like you’re selling me half of a product. You’re selling me a car, but it won’t run without the engine that I must purchase separately. I bought a house, but it doesn’t have any doors or windows to actually get in unless I buy that option as well.
Let’s say that I do decide to buy the textbook. I should be able to get it from literally any source that I choose. You give me the ISBN to tell me what book it is, and I should be able to get sufficient materials from anywhere. The school bookstore, Amazon, or other book purveyors should all give me something that satisfies the conditions of the class. Even more illicit means of acquisition should be applicable. You shouldn’t care how I got the book, as long as it is the appropriate book. I’ll personally deal with the legal repercussions of using torrents to get a PDF of a textbook.
My opinion on textbooks is that they should serve as auxiliary material only. Tuition is expensive enough as is, and if I’m paying you to teach me, you should be able to teach me without banking on a book as well. Give me all of the course material, the assignments, the exams, and any other required material, all for the cost of the course itself. If I want extra help, the textbook should be there as an option.
If you do need a book, bake it into the cost of the course. If both the class and the book are necessary, but only one of those is part of “tuition,” it’s like you’re selling me half of a product. You’re selling me a car, but it won’t run without the engine that I must purchase separately. I bought a house, but it doesn’t have any doors or windows to actually get in unless I buy that option as well.
Let’s say that I do decide to buy the textbook. I should be able to get it from literally any source that I choose. You give me the ISBN to tell me what book it is, and I should be able to get sufficient materials from anywhere. The school bookstore, Amazon, or other book purveyors should all give me something that satisfies the conditions of the class. Even more illicit means of acquisition should be applicable. You shouldn’t care how I got the book, as long as it is the appropriate book. I’ll personally deal with the legal repercussions of using torrents to get a PDF of a textbook.
The Application
To illustrate my point, I’ll explain how I didn’t purchase a textbook at all for my most recently completed term at SNHU. I didn’t even purchase the auxiliary materials. I literally paid tuition, and that’s it.
For my first class, I got a digital rental of the textbook. In a digital format, I could get it instantly, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing or damaging it before I returned it, and I could access it from any device that I own. I kept up with reading for the first few weeks, but I eventually slacked off when I realized that I could handle the coursework without the extra aid of reading the textbook.
At the start of my second course, I decided that I would try the work without purchasing the material at all. Worst case scenario, I discover that I need the book, I go online and purchase the digital rental, and I have access to the book within like 5 minutes. Not only did this class recommend a textbook, but it also “required” a roughly $5 collection of case study artifacts. Out of principle, I didn’t purchase that either. I figured I could wing it until I absolutely had to have one or both of these items.
For 10 weeks, I used a lot of Google searches, but I did not once buy, rent, or in any way obtain the “required” materials for this course. I cited the textbook in the reference page for basically every assignment that I completed, but I don’t have a clue what the first word was. At the end of the class, I finished with an A-. I just used Google and the provided course material, and I got the second highest grade possible.
Clearly, textbooks are not necessary. Proving in a trial by fire that I could get a decent (or even good) grade without the required materials, I decided to follow this practice in all subsequent courses. At $50 or more a pop, I would save a significant sum of money over the course of my degree by foregoing the purchase of textbooks unless absolutely necessary.
The Wrench in the Gears
This plan to pass on textbook purchases came to an abrupt halt in starting my third course at SNHU. Instead of offering a traditional textbook, this course required a “zyBook” purchase. I learned that zyBooks is a platform or ecosystem of sorts, that gives digital access to related reading, as activities that demonstrate the material in action.
As much as this zyBooks thing may sound like a good way to learn new material, there were a few implications that I strongly opposed. First, it meant that I had to go through the SNHU bookstore. Since it was sold as an access code instead of a traditional textbook, other bookstores didn’t even have the book listed. Not only was the book unavailable from other purveyors, I wouldn’t have trusted it even if it was. I’ve had bad experiences with buying access codes from third party suppliers in the past, so I’ll typically go through the school bookstore for those items. Even if I oppose the idea of bookstores as school profit centers, if I need a code for a class, I don’t want to risk having to buy it twice.
The second implication about this zyBook only dawned on me during the first week of class. When working through the work for the first module, one of the items mentioned completing the activities for chapters 1 and 2 of the zyBook. There was no way to turn these items in on Brightspace, so I figured maybe they were optional. Sure, I *could* do them for practice, but if I wasn’t graded on them, why waste my time?
I looked through the grades page on Brightspace, and it listed distinct items for the zyBooks activities. If I couldn’t turn these in on Brightspace, how in the world could I actually get credit for them. Not wanting to get to the last minute and risk missing deadlines, I asked about the zyBooks assignments in the class discussion board. After a few hours, some students responded and suggested that the professor could monitor our progress in those activities on zyBooks and then manually populate these grades in Brightspace. The professor came along later and confirmed this hypothesis.
While I wasn’t quite furious, I was certainly frustrated. The access code for the zyBook was $48.60 from the SNHU bookstore. While I’ve certainly paid more for textbooks in the past, this was essentially me purchasing a subset of the course content. If I didn’t pay for the material, I wouldn’t have access to the zyBooks activities. If I didn’t complete the zyBooks activities, I would receive failing grades on those items. Considering how many of those items were listed in the grade book, and their respective weights, I would surely fail the class if I didn’t buy the zyBooks access code and complete them.
Extortion, is what that is. If you don’t pay for this auxiliary item, I’ll fail you. Nevermind the fact that I’ve already paid $1,881 for the course. Nevermind the fact there is already a platform (Brightspace) on which SNHU students can receive course material and participate in assessment activities. Nope, we have to pony up an extra half a Benjamin (a Grant, if you will) for access to the full collection of course material.
I tweeted to SNHU about. They responded, asking me to privately message them. I told them that I wasn’t happy with having to pay for access to course material when I already paid tuition. They suggested I could apply for scholarships. First, I’m in a Master’s program, so scholarships are basically nonexistent. Second, it’s not about me specifically having to pay the money. It’s about the principle of the matter. No student, having already paid for tuition, should have to pay another fee to access the remainder of the class content. That’s ridiculous.
In conclusion, realize that if a university calls a textbook or access code “required,” they may be right. Even if you as a student already know the material, and could easily pass the assessments without buying the book, you might still be strong-armed into buying the book or code. Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Is it absurd? You bet. But they call the shots, and if they want to make you pay more money for extra material, apparently they can. My nihilistic view of higher education just got a little more bleak.
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