With online learning, role of textbooks evolves - ANGELYN IRVIN, Daily Pennsylvanian

Changes in how students take classes could also mean changes in how they prepare for them. With the increasing availability of online courses, the role of textbooks is evolving. The explosion of open online courses now affords students across the globe free access to classes. Often, these courses don’t have required texts and post recommended reading lists instead. Some professors provide access to readings or don’t use textbooks at all. For example, math professor Robert Ghrist—who’s teaching a Coursera calculus course in January—is providing all material to his students free of charge and will not be using the math texts used by the University. http://www.thedp.com/article/2012/11/future-of-free-online-textbooks-for-online-courses