As the pandemic has created greater financial hardship for students and families across the country, 65 per cent of students reported not buying a textbook because of the cost – even as 90 per cent said they believed doing so would negatively impact their grades. Even worse, this phenomenon is not entirely new, with 63 per cent of students forgoing textbooks in 2019. As an entrepreneur who leads a company in the e-textbook and digital course materials space, this is a challenge I’ve seen up close. I first noticed these trends 15 years ago when I worked at Walden University, one of the largest providers of online and continuing education for adult learners. Leading business and engineering programmes comprising about 6,000 students, I saw that much more could be done to address this connection between course materials and student outcomes.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/we-need-help-students-overcome-their-textbook-troubles
