May 2023 Textbook Hero - Marian Smith

Name:
Marian Smith

What are some of the classes you teach?
Online Success Strategies, Editing & Proofreading, and Information Design

How long have you been with CVTC? 20 years

How long have you been using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks?
At least the past five years.

What is your favorite part of using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? Using low-cost and no-cost textbooks/resources helps students save so much money.

Any estimated student cost savings from using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks?
Thousands of dollars over the past few years.

Fun fact: Each semester, I teach classes that are required for students in three different programs. I can see how the use of affordable/free resources has a direct impact on students' success.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 2024 Textbook Hero - Cathi LaFontaine

Image
Name: Cathi LaFontaine What are some of the classes you teach? Marketing Principles, Advertising, and Entrepreneurial Communications How long have you been with CVTC? 20 years How long have you been using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? For all my courses over the last four years. What is your favorite part of using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? It's easier to update the content that changes rapidly, so students will always get the most recent information in our industry. Any estimated student cost savings from using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? From $75 to $200. Fun fact: I love to play trivia and my team is going to league championship, so I know a lot of random stuff!
Read more

April 2024 Textbook Hero - Mary Purvis

Image
Name: Mary Purvis What are some of the classes you teach? General Physics and Astronomy How long have you been with CVTC? About 20 years How long have you been using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? 11 years for my Physics classes What is your favorite part of using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? Using an OER textbook allows me to have a stable curriculum for my course. The concepts taught in first semester Physics have not changed in the last 50 years. When I used a textbook from a publisher, the scope and sequence of the book, the content, and the problem sets changed every two to three years. I was always changing my lessons to match the publishers changed content. When I switched to an OER book, I got off the textbook merry-go-round. I could spend more time contextualizing the lessons for the programs I was working with. I could spend more time inventing labs and being creative. I wasn't wasting time constantly updating lessons because the book changed. Yes, it was more ...
Read more

February 2024 Textbook Hero - JR Smathers

Image
Name: JR Smathers What are some of the classes you teach? Photoshop Fundamentals, Typography Fundamentals, Motion Graphics, and Design Photography How long have you been with CVTC? 2 years How long have you been using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? Since the start! What is your favorite part of using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? A lot of the courses I teach focus on the Adobe software, which is updated frequently with a major update annually. With no-cost textbooks, students aren't forced to purchase something that'll be outdated in a few months. During my freshman year of college, I purchased a $100+ Adobe Photoshop CS4 textbook, only for the CS5 update to be released towards the end of my first semester. I'm happy that my students don't have to purchase materials that'll soon be outdated like I did! Any estimated student cost savings from using low-cost and/or no-cost textbooks? $60-100 per course Fun fact: In 2014, I was part of a team that made a docu...
Read more