Library Mobile > 6 > Configuring The 'Future Textbook'

The Sixth >  New Column > Configuring The 'Future Textbook', Searcher v. 19 no. 4 (May 2011) p. 43-47.

In late May 2006, more than 50 educators and publishers, representing a wide range of specialties, gathered at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D.C., to participate in a 3-day National Science Foundation-funded workshop titled "Reconsidering the Textbook."

Through small- and large-group discussions, the attendees "examined the current state of the textbook and its relationship to the growing number of electronic tools that also serve as learning resources for today's students" and sought to envision the textbook of the future.

At the conclusion of the workshop there was general consensus that:

[T]he textbook of the future will be more than a static printed  volume. ... It will function as a guide, interweaving and coordinating a variety of different learning resources including animations, simulations, and interactive exercises. ... [It will] be easily searchable, and thus would be learner accessible with a flexible electronic interface.

The group envisioned the "Future Textbook" - whether printed or electronic - as "the organizing hub of an  integrated learning environment [that would] become increasingly adaptable, customizable, and responsive." They imagined it as a "Web-linked travel guide" that was modular by design, thus allowing an instructor to configure content to suit the goals of a particular course as well as the specific needs of individual students. In this view, access to networked resources would strongly promote higher-level thinking. The group also agreed that the Future Textbook would be integrated with course management systems.

[more]

Self-archived at

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gerrymck/ConfiguringTheFutureTextbook.pdf  (10 June 2011)

CT > Blackboard and McGraw-Hill Go Live With Combined Course System

Campus Technology > Dian Schaffhauser > 04/19/11

 

Sooner than expected, a course system has been launched from Blackboard and McGraw-Hill Higher Education that blends course management from one company with content from the other. First publicly announced in January 2011, the new offering, which has no particular name, provides users with a single point of access for online courses, materials, and learning tools.

 

The integrated suite uses McGraw-Hill's content creation and assessment products, Connect and Create, within Blackboard Learn 9.1. Support for Learn 8.0 is planned for later in the year. By offering all course resources in a single environment, the solution is designed to improve faculty and student workflows with single sign-on and automatic synchronization of all grades for McGraw-Hill assignments with the Blackboard Learn gradebook.

 

[more]

 

Source

 

[http://bit.ly/hNHBVc]

Webinar > Spotlight On Innovation: Attacking High Text Costs While Improving Outcomes > Recording Now Available > April 11 2011

Spotlight On Innovation: Attacking High Text Costs While Improving Outcomes

Moderated by Eric Frank, President and Co-Founder of Flat World Knowledge, this esteemed panel (Darlene McCoy Associate Vice Chancellor of USO, Affordability and Efficiency; Dr. Steve Acker, Research Director, EText Ohio Project; Dr. Cable Green Project Director of eLearning and Open Education, WA State Board for Comm. and Tech. Colleges; Dr. Mirta Martin Dean, Reginald F. Lewis School of Business; and Dr. Andrew Feldstein Assistant Professor VSU) discusses three of the most exciting initiatives aimed at driving costs down while enhancing innovation and outcomes.

Available At

[https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/233199691]

YouTube

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGCGJ-VbBEg]