Moving to Digital Course Content: The Importance of Access and Open Textbooks

In Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, 508 students in Fall 10 and 483 students in Spring 11 registered using 1352 textbooks in 9 separate courses. Textbooks were adopted from Flat World Knowledge digital content to replace traditional textbooks in their courses. A unique seat-license program, taking full advantage of the Creative Commons license, allowed students access to digital content in a variety of formats. The year-long pilot program provided a number of insights into student behaviors around course content. This talk describes various metrics that were used to gauge patterns of student behavior as they registered for, and downloaded course. We will discuss the implications of these findings and student reactions to the move from paperbound to digital content. Participants will be introduced to ways to use data gained by tracking digital registration and downloads, gain an awareness ofstudent behaviors as they interact with digital content, and identify potential issues created when course content is provided in a digital format.