John Wiley & Sons Inc. is in business to make a
profit off the educational material it produces, while OpenStax College is a
nonprofit organization that provides open educational materials (OER) to
college students online for free. Those two very different approaches make their
announced partnership seem odd at first glance.
The companies are going to collaborate on two new
biology textbooks created by OpenStax College. The arrangement calls for Wiley
to deliver the OpenStax content through its WileyPlus online environment, with
Wiley trying to turn a profit by adding value to the content though its
interactive learning tools.
“OpenStax College and Wiley are breaking new ground by
working together to broaden access and add value to high-quality OER content,”
said Joe Heider, senior vice president of Wiley Global Education, in a press release announcing the partnership. “By integrating OpenStax content with WileyPlus
practice and assessment resources, this partnership gives students the option
of paying a reduced price for a personalized experience that is proven to
improve learning outcomes.”
The partnership also provides a way for Wiley to offer
an introductory college biology text without developing one of its own. Some chapters of the OpenStax material are already online. The remainder are
expected to be completed in the fall when Wiley will begin pilots for the
WileyPlus college biology products.
“As I understand it, their mission is to improve the
accessibility of affordable educational materials, and we actually share that
goal,” Kaye Pace, vice president and executive publisher at Wiley, told Information
Week. “We would like to offer students more attractive pricing.”
