April 13, 2021 - “Supporting students in becoming the next generation of special education teachers in Ventura County… without charging a penny for textbooks.” This was the School of Education's quest for affordability and accessibility.
Dr. Talya Drescher, Assistant Professor - Special Education, embarked on the mission to train special educators using low or no-cost materials in her credential classes. With the support from the library faculty and staff, she was able to replace the $100+ textbook in her course with no-cost online materials.
The transition from traditional textbooks to online materials was "so smooth and easy to implement" that Dr. Drescher decided to apply this to her other course. She later worked with a colleague who teaches the same course to create another textbook-free course in the program. A year later, every course in the Special Education Credential Program at CSU Channel Islands was textbook-free at a savings of over $27,000 for the 2019 - 2020 academic year.
To learn more about how Dr. Drescher implemented the textbook-free courses visit http://tlinnovations.cikeys.com/openci/training-special-educators-without-charging-a-penny-for-textbooks-one-departments-quest-for-affordability-and-accessibility-through-camaraderie/.