Rice University is adding to its collection of free online textbooks by offering texts for five introductory college courses in four subjects: biology, sociology, physics, and anatomy and physiology, some set to launch as early as next month.
Online news source Inside Higher Ed reported Feb. 7 that the top-ranked university plans to release the new books through its Connexions platform. The texts will be published through the non-profit publisher OpenStax College. While open-source textbooks aren’t new, these new books are peer-reviewed the same way traditional textbooks are. The textbooks, downloadable on computers and mobile devices, can be used in courses around the world. The information is free online to anyone, and printed copies of the book are available for purchase at printing cost, or roughly $20.
The idea behind the Connexions platform was first presented by one of Rice’s engineering professors in 1999. The Connexions website explains why open education is important: it allows for people not in the publishing world to participate in educational information; it reduces the chance that information will be out of date by the time it gets into student hands because it can be updated continually and immediately; and it balances the costs of education and teaching materials. The average community college student, the site states, pays more for textbooks than tuition.
Now, according to the site, the platform averages more than 2 million unique visitors per month, from 194 countries. While some original content is produced in other languages, volunteers work to translate existing content as well.
The development of the free content on Connexions is funded by sponsors and partners including The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Maxfield Foundation, and Twenty Million Minds, Inc. The publisher OpenStax is funded in part by those organizations and by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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