When Digital Textbooks Make College Students Pay to Turn In Their Homework

Slashdot reader jyosim writes: A professor at Arizona State U says he was let go from his teaching job in the economics department because he wouldn't embrace assigning homework software that he says "requires students to pay just to turn in homework." His students rushed to his defense on social media, saying that many of their courses now require them to pay for online systems if they want to submit homework. The university says the professor is spreading misinformation and is the villain. Details of the ASU situation are messy, but the broader issue of homework software is one that students around the country have been complaining about, while textbook companies see them as the future because they eliminate the used textbook market and lead to more sales as more students are forced to buy directly from publishers. Publishers argue their software is sophisticated, expensive to build, and improves student grades because it is integrated with helpful bells and whistles. They want colleges to buy in bulk so all students have access. Is the move to digital homework systems creating a new kind of digital divide at colleges? From the article: For professors, one benefit of using digital homework systems is that it can save them time in grading, and it also gives professors analytics on how much each student has accessed and for how long. But the article also notes that that doesn't always happen. One student just submitted every homework assignment for the semester during the software's free two-week trial period -- skipping all of its related digital reading materials and just doing free research on the internet. "It's right there on Google for free, or you can find videos on how to do it. I'm so tired of spending just pointless money." (Their ultimate grade in the course was an A.) And a few years ago a student told Buzzfeed that instead they just didn't turn in their first homework assignments -- hoping to bring up their grades later when they could afford to pay their system's $100 fee. The article also points out that student government leaders unearthed a revenue-sharing business relationship between the university and its digital textbook publisher.

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