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Open Educational Resources (OER) at UVA

A guide to educational material that are freely available to use, adapt, share, and reuse.

What About Inclusive & Equitable Access?

Inclusive Access (IA) Basics

 

Q: What is inclusive access?

A: It’s a content-delivery program (often managed by campus stores; sometimes by academic affairs, information technology, or libraries) that provides students with day-one access to digital course materials from publishers and vendors at a reduced cost. The service goes by a variety of different names: inclusive access (McGraw-Hill, Wiley, Pearson, VitalSource, RedShelf), Macmillan Learning, Follett ACCESS, First Day (Barnes & Noble College), Equitable Access (University of California Davis), and Immediate Access (San Diego State), just to name a few.
 

Q: What is the difference between inclusive access and equitable access?

A: Inclusive Access is a publisher-driven, course-by-course model where students are automatically billed for digital course materials unless they opt out while Equitable Access is a broader, institutional approach that bills all students a flat, fixed fee for their course materials across their entire program or by credit hour. 
 

Q: How do IA programs work?

A: Exact details may vary, but they generally work like this: Students get access to digital course materials on or before the first day of class. Content is usually linked in the campus learning management system (LMS). Access for enrolled students is free during a brief opt-out period at the beginning of the course. If students opt out of buying the IA content by the deadline, their access disappears. If they don’t opt out, access continues and they’re automatically charged for the content. Because opt-out rates tend to be low, publishers say they can afford to offer volume discounts. Some publishers advertise discounts up to 70%, but there is little pricing transparency. 

 

Q: How does IA differ from OER?

A: OER are customizable; free for users to read online or download; offer perpetual access; and allow unlimited printing, copying, and sharing. While some OER content is available through IA programs (OpenStax is a prime example), most IA content is copyrighted with all rights reserved and can’t be revised by students or instructors. IA content also isn’t free, it’s usually only accessible for a limited time (and continued access means higher prices), and it often has copy/paste and printing restrictions. Students aren’t allowed to share or resell IA content (access codes and digital rights management [DRM] may be used to ensure this).

Inclusive Access.org

InclusiveAccess.org was developed by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) with partnership with AAC&U, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, Creative Commons, DigiTex, Student PIRGS, Open Education Global, and OpenStax.

It's a one-stop-shop for information, tools, and other resources to help administrators, faculty, students, and policymakers make informed decisions about Inclusive Access and its implications for the campus community.

Considerations

  1. Understand the pricing involved. Regulations only require publishers to offer IA materials “below competitive market rates” so savings can be minimal, especially compared to rentals and used textbooks (the latter of which students may be able to resell). Pricing associated with IA isn’t always transparent. Many faculty don’t know that they even have an option to negotiate for better pricing. IA discounts may depend on the negotiating ability of the campus entities involved in the process. Pricing models should also be viewed with some skepticism. Even if discounts are available now, there is certainly potential to see price increases as more institutions become reliant on IA programs. Publishers should be continually discouraged from reverting to their former methods of pricing print textbooks.

  2. Some products have tiered pricing. There is often a different pricing scheme for textbooks and for ancillary content.  Students may have to pay extra for features like homework or review systems. 
  3. Beware of IA packages with online testing or homework system requirements. Using the online system may be the only way for students to submit their homework or take tests. In those cases, opting out of inclusive access isn’t truly an option for students. They can’t pass the class without the full package.
  4. Students and instructors need to be clear about the length of access to IA content. Access terms may vary by title. If access beyond the course term is negotiated, students will likely have to find the IA content on the publishers’ and vendors’ proprietary platforms rather than in the LMS.
  5. Consider the impact on faculty's academic freedom in course material selection involved in IA programs. Narrow or restrictive agreements can limit the number of choices available to support curricular content.  
  6. Consider issues of privacy. The digital platforms associated with IA gather a great deal of student data. Publishers say the analytics enable instructors to monitor class progress and follow up with students who aren’t doing the readings or engaging with the materials. In reality, instructors may not have easy access to the analytics or use them. Institutions need to investigate what information is being collected, the reason it’s being collected, and who owns and retains that information. The privacy of our stakeholders is dependent on the sensible collection, protection, and security of any data collected through IA.  
  7. Consider who is getting a good deal with IA. Inclusive access is definitely a good deal for publishers. Opt-out rates tend to be low so they sell more books. With the use of digital course materials, publishers earn revenue on every inclusive access sale. Rental and used print textbooks may be more affordable options for students, but inclusive access reduces the availability of those in the marketplace. Publishers and vendors also gain valuable market research and usage statistics from the student data collected by their analytics systems. Administrators should know how student data is being collected, used, and possibly sold. 
  8. Inclusive access may benefit students. OER and library-licensed materials offer greater advantages and cost savings, but if those are unavailable and inclusive access content is offered at a significantly reduced price, that’s preferable to paying full price for a new hardcover textbook (or trying to pass the class without the course materials). 

Source: Open Education Network All-Access Working Group, Inclusive Access Talking Points

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