Foreword

To think creatively about the future is to risk ridicule. To create the future by acting decisively is to guarantee opposition. The author of this book, Dave Dillon, and your instructor who has assigned this book, have encountered both ridicule and opposition, in order for you to freely access this book.

The book that you are reading is not only about career decision making. Rather, this book demonstrates that the author and your instructor care enough about academic freedom and your success that they have taken decisive action to break away from conventional and traditional ways of packaging and providing textbooks to students. In other words, this book was not produced by a traditional publisher that would have created a product that costs more than you care to think about. Nor was it produced by a traditional publisher far away from your classroom, your concerns, and your way of learning. Instead, this book was created by Dave Dillon, writing and editing and collecting his own words and those of other dedicated teachers. It is presented to you as an Open Educational Resource—a creative work that is licensed so that it can be used, shared, and re-mixed freely and legally.

All of this means that you can focus on learning, not on student debt; you are learning with materials carefully selected by teachers who care about your success; and you can keep the book, share it, and even re-mix it (with proper attribution). Perhaps, after all, this book is about making good choices in one’s career.

James
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James Glapa-Grossklag
Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources and Distance Learning
Project Director, Distance Education Captioning & Transcription Grant
Co-Coordinator, Technical Assistance, CCC Zero Textbook Cost Degree program
Treasurer and Past President of the Board, Open Education Consortium
College of the Canyons