Textbook Affordability Video Contest

Textbook Affordability Week Video Contest

Faculty, are you using low or no-cost textbooks in your classes? Students, frustrated by the rising cost of textbooks?  Here’s your chance to tell your story and win a $100 University Store gift card!

Over the last few years, faculty at Bloomsburg University have become increasingly concerned about the cost of course materials and have made various changes to their courses to help ease the burden on students.  Faculty have used:

• Inclusive Access: e-versions of commercially available textbooks that are available through BOLT and direct billed to students at the lowest possible cost
• Open Educational Resources: course material that is freely available to download, share, and edit, available through sites such as OpenStax,org and the Open Textbook Library
• Library sources: articles, ebooks, and videos available through Andruss Library
• Other freely available material online: YouTube videos, government websites and resources, etc.

Think about the ways you as a faculty member or student have used these low and no-cost course materials.  Maybe you have used them as the main text in a class, or to supplement a traditional print textbook.  Maybe you’ve searched them out on your own to help you prepare for a standardized test or to help you understand material in a course you’re taking when the main textbook just isn’t cutting it.  If you’re a faculty member, think about how this material has helped you customize your course or provide instruction on a topic that you might not otherwise have been able to cover.  If you’re a student, think about how these low or no-cost textbooks have let you do other things with your money.  And then… make a video about it!

Who: Open to all currently enrolled BU students (graduate and undergraduate) and classroom faculty. Student and faculty videos will be judged separately. 

What: Make a video (no more than 3 minutes) about how using low and no-cost textbooks and other course material has impacted your teaching and/or learning.

When: Deadline for entry is 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, February 28, 2021.  Winners will be selected by Friday, March 5, 2021 and notified shortly thereafter.

How to enter:  Use this form.

Prizes:

• 1^st place in both categories: $100 University Store gift card
• 2^nd place in both categories: Plush Husky Head throw/blanket
• 3^rd place in both categories: Bloomsburg University "Paw Hoodie" (choice of size/color)

Many thanks to the CGA/University Store for donating the prizes.

Winning submissions will be shared on the Andruss Library and University Store websites and social media channels and will be shared with BU marketing.

Questions? Please contact Katie Yelinek, Andruss Library Librarian, kyelinek@bloomu.edu

Rules:

• Open to all currently enrolled BU students (graduate and undergraduate) and classroom faculty. Student and faculty videos will be judged separately.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, February 28, 2021. No exceptions.
• Video must be a maximum of 3 minutes. Videos over 3 minutes will be disqualified.
• Only one submission per student or faculty member, but students may work in groups of up to 3.  Note that prizes will be shared if a group is declared the winner. 
• Video must be original content.
• Videos may be created using any video software or device (even your phones!).  If you would like to use Zoom to record your video, here are directions: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362473-Local-recording

• Submit videos through the entry form above using your BU (Huskies) email address
  • On the entry form, you must indicate what Creative Commons license you are applying to your video.  A Creative Commons license is a license that means you retain the copyright to your video, but you are indicating what others may freely do with it without having to ask your permission.  Creative Commons licenses are one of the keys that makes open educational resources possible.  To choose your license, visit this page: https://chooser-beta.creativecommons.org/. 

Judging:

• Judging will be done by a team comprised of the university store manager, a librarian, and a faculty member.
• No prior video creation or editing experience necessary.
• Winners will be selected by Friday, March 5, 2021 and notified shortly thereafter.
• The decision of the judges is final.  Judges may choose not to award a prize if they feel no entry meets basic requirements. 
• General criteria: storytelling, creativity, effectively communicates impact/import of low and no-cost textbooks and other course material to the educational life of the campus