New Grants Available for Alternative Textbooks
Digital course materials company Skyepack today announced a third round of funding available through its Textbook Liberation Fund. The grant program was created to help faculty members or departments transition courses from high-cost textbooks to lower cost alternatives.
Skyepack combines open educational resources, instructor-created content the instructor, custom content as well as licensed third-party content to develop a portfolio of educational materials for specific courses or entire departments. Students access the materials on the web or via mobile device at a significant savings compared to the cost of traditional textbooks, according to the company.
For example, when a biology course at Saint Paul College in Minnesota moved to Skyepack this past summer, students' textbook costs for the class dropped by more than 80 percent. "We began developing new course materials with Skyepack in May 2016 and launched on August 23," said Saint Paul College biology instructor Joanna Cregan in a press release. "Prior to working with Skyepack, our students paid $160 for the required textbook. This fall, they paid $30. Plus, we are now able to modify the materials Skyepack created to meet our needs as our course evolves over time."
The deadline for Textbook Liberation Fund grant proposals is Sunday, Nov. 13, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For more information, visit the fund website.
About the Author
Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].