Four Key Trends in the Textbook Industry
We’ve just published an interesting case study about Jonathan Rees, who was one of the initial adopters of our Milestone Documents primary source reader. The article describes how Jonathan came to the decision to ditch his textbook and utilize Milestone Documents instead:
Inspired by his colleague, Rees simply eliminated the text from his class, opting to rely on his PowerPoint-based notes and a digital reader – Milestone Documents – with unique, comprehensive access to primary sources. Rees compares the move to the Sugar Act of 1764, when the British reduced the breadth of an unpopular but easily evaded tax on colonists. “I reduced the amount of reading but stepped up enforcement,” he says.
Indeed, now Rees and his students are in step with each other. He’s teaching what they’re reading. Further, students no longer have to pay up to $100 for a paper textbook. They pay less than $20 for complete, semester-long access to Milestone Documents. Rees feels there’s significantly less frustration among students. ”No one asks me ‘why do I have to read this?’” he says.
With three textbook-free semesters under his belt, Rees says he’s a happier teacher. He likes the freedom to pick and choose the contents of each class and teaches directly on the screen – face to face with his students. The a-la-carte approach allows him to customize, moving the pace faster or slower… the level of discussion up or down, depending upon the students’ fluency in the material.
Jonathan’s story highlights many of the difficulties that professors and students are facing with the traditional textbook: high prices, inflexible models that limit how and what the professor covers in the classroom, and lack of student engagement. We’ve designed Milestone Documents so that it addresses these difficulties, at least in part. Some of our customers, like Jonathan, have gotten rid of their textbooks entirely and rely almost entirely on our site. Others, however, continue to use the same “textbook + reader” paradigm that Jonathan mentions in the case study; they merely substitute their traditional reader with our more powerful and flexible (and affordable) one.
As we head into the final weeks of 2011 and look ahead to 2012, here are three key textbook industry trends that I have my eye on:
- It’s the price, stupid: As I mention in the case study, I think that high prices are at the root of so much of the disruption in the industry. Students and their parents are going to continue to seek out cheaper options, and as those options proliferate and improve, the disruption will accelerate.
- Access, not ownership: The textbook industry is following in the footsteps of so many other media industries. With a few exceptions, not many students need or want to own their textbooks. More than anything, it’s the access model that is shaking up the industry. Milestone Documents is one such option, operating in a small niche in a few subject areas. But the bigger players – Chegg, Flat World Knowledge, CourseSmart – are shifting the playing field pretty dramatically.
- Digital is following, not driving, the upheaval: Surveys of our student users have shown that some 70% of them prefer digital format over print. But I think that’s somewhat incidental. They care more about price than format. For ease of use, it’s hard to beat a printed book, and most students would happily flock to print forms if they were far cheaper than they are. From a publisher’s standpoint, however, the shift to digital is crucial, because it makes possible the lower-priced, more flexible models that students are gravitating toward.
- Not Every Subject Needs a Textbook: Finally, as Jonathan’s experience shows, not every classroom is best served by a traditional textbook. History is certainly one subject that can be successfully taught without a textbook, but it’s far from the only one. With new, more flexible access models in place, instructors will find it ever easier to get rid of the textbook altogether.
My guess is that these same trends will still be the ones we’re talking about a year from now. In the meantime, if you’re attending the upcoming American Historical Association meeting in Chicago, please stop by our booth (216) to say hello, tour our site, discuss the state of the textbook industry, or just say hi.