RESTRICTED ACCESS: Remember OER pariah Joseph Henry Vogel, who received a patent in June for his idea of pushing students to purchase print textbooks just to get a digital code required to access online discussions and course materials? Turns out this boondoggle is already a true (horror) story for many students, like this University of Maine student who was taking the same English class as his wife. Surprisingly enough, he was able to purchase an extra access code directly from the publisher (so that they wouldn't have to buy two new copies of the same textbook.) That's the only happy twist in this tale of textbook coercion. Good reason to check out this nifty textbook cost checker by the frugally inclined, 20 Million Minds.
