A Newsletter for Online Faculty @ Indiana Wesleyan University

A Newsletter for Online Faculty
@ Indiana Wesleyan University
February 2013
Volume 1 Number 10
eBooks in Higher Education: The Future is Coming
There is a growing level of interest in the role of electronic books (i.e., eBooks) and their future role in higher education.
Faculty and students are lining up to offer their opinions about the advisability and pace of replacing print textbooks
with digital versions that can be downloaded to a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Reynolds (2011) speculates that
eBooks will be the dominant form of textbook in higher education within the next seven years. This growth is attributed
to several factors:
• The going price for eBooks is approximately 50% of a print book. It should be no
surprise that the cost of textbooks is a key factor in student book buying behavior.
• The digital format of eBooks offer the opportunity to embed a variety of digital resources
that enhance the learning experience (e.g., audio, video, links to websites, interactive
quizzes).
• The number of digital titles will increase at a rapid rate as publishers are motivated to
reduce the number of shared texts used by students.
These motivations are not surprising as publishing companies will continue to compete for a lion’s
share of the market.
What is rather confusing about the future of eBooks is the
response by students to this impending reality. Quite often,
traditional college students (a.k.a., Millennials, Generation Y,
Generation Z), who are touted to be digital wizards, often express
their longstanding sentimental commitment to holding a book and
turning pages (Howard, 2013). This data is rather amusing when
consideration is given to the fact that college students are generally
and notoriously negligent in terms of reading assigned text books.
It is highly probable that the diversity of opinion among college
students on the topic of e-Books will also be evident among
faculty. Faculty concerns tend to center around whether the books
they are using are available in an electronic format, their own lack
of comfort with this new technology, and the perceived
inconvenience of converting existing courses into a totally digital
format.
eBooks in Higher Education...continued on Page 5
Volume 1 Number 10
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Directions
with Mark Alexander
Online Regional Dean
Earlier this week, my oldest son celebrated his 11th birthday. He was quite excited by two specific gifts: a small Lego set and a
remote control helicopter. And yes, I will admit to being just as excited!
After we broke through the numerous layers of industrial strength plastic, we extracted the helicopter from its packaging. This
was nothing like anything I had ever touched as a kid. I had used other remote-controlled toys, but they were all ground-based.
How do we ensure that our first flight isn’t the last? Ah yes, the directions!
I scoured the directions and prioritized information: battery
installation; charging; flight; warnings. (Yes, I saved the
warnings until the end!) My son was eager to start so I took a
few moments to explain that reading through the directions
would give us the best chance for success. We can then know
what each part is for, how delicate certain components are,
and what to do in order to use the helicopter for its purpose.
A little later, he utilized the Lego directions on his own in
order to build the desired model. He even encountered a little
glitch in the process because he missed a step. It caused some
consternation as he had to tear his model halfway down to
apply the fix, but it served as an ideal reinforcement of the
idea that we must follow directions. With his next model, he will be cognizant of that error that he had made.
The parallels to life are abundant. As instructors, we can become frustrated by the student that asks questions that we feel are
clearly spelled out in the Course Materials. Do they not read those materials?
To be fair, sometimes students become frustrated by their instructors.
My team and I have dealt with a few situations lately when an instructor
uses an old rubric or assignment parameter and it confused the class. In
some cases, it drastically affected the students’ grades. The good news is
that our Schools and Instructional Designers have been working on
updating and revising curriculum. The downside is that you will want to
be certain to review course materials during preview to ensure you have
the latest and greatest set of directions!
One last parallel convicted me: Am I becoming frustrated with an
aspect of my life? Am I depending upon my talents? Am I trying to fly
by instinct or am I spending time reading the directions for life? If not,
should I be surprised by frequent crashes? Let me encourage you to
review the directions that are before you, both in the course and in the
Bible. Let’s set the example for those around us.
How do you gently turn students back to the Course Materials? How do you provide direction to students?
private Facebook group at http://on.fb.me/IYSc9s and let’s discuss!
Join me in our
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Volume 1 Number 10
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Blackboard Tip of the Month
with Stephen Anthony
Center for Learning and Innovation
Don’t Read One by One:
How to Collect Discussion Posts
On the Thread Detail page, you can read only one post at a time. Use the Collect function to read multiple posts from the
same page. After posts are collected, you can filter, sort, and print them.
1. On the course menu, select Discussion Board.
2. On the Discussion Board page, select the name of the forum.
3. On the Forum page, select the name of the thread.
4. On the Thread Detail page, select the
check boxes of the posts to collect. If a
post has replies and you want them to
appear on the Collection page, select the
plus sign to expand the post and select
the check boxes for those messages.
To select all the posts in a thread, choose
Select: All above the message List. All
check boxes for all the posts are selected
whether they are expanded or collapsed.
5. On the action bar, select Collect.
The Collect function is also available in
the forum page, where it is used to
gather all the postings made to different
threads. Once collected, sort the
messages to further organize them.
On the Search Results page, you can read and print the results. On the action bar, select Print Preview to open the page in
a new window in printer-friendly format. Posts print in the order they appear on the page. To select which posts appear
and in which order, you can filter and sort posts using the Filter function and the Sort by and Order drop-down lists on the
action bar.
On this page, you can also reply to posts and mark messages read or unread. Select the Quote function to include the
post's text as part of your reply. To view the responses to a post, select the post's hyperlinked title to navigate to the
Thread Detail page.
For more information on collecting discussion board posts:
http://ondemand.blackboard.com/r9/movies/Bb9_Discussion_Board_Search_Collect_Posts_Item.htm
Volume 1 Number 10
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Truly A “Don’t Miss” Event
Shifting Sands: Re-Imagining Scholarship, Theory, and Practice.”
When:
March 14-15, 2013
Pre-conference sessions, Keynote Address, and Reception on Thursday,
March 14, 2013. 40 additional sessions on Friday, March 15, 2013.
Where:
Indianapolis Marriott North
Keynote Speaker:
Regan Gerung
Professor of Human Development and Psychology
Chair of Human Development
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Special Pricing for
IWU Adjuncts
$ 45 for Conference/ $ 60.00 for Conference and
2 Pre-Conference Sessions (meals included on
Friday, 3.15.13)
For the complete schedule... go to:
http://www.indwes.edu/MidwestScholars/
To register... go to:
https://secure.indwes.edu/aps/msc/?type=adjunct
The Link
A publication of
The Center for Learning & Innovation
765.677.1821
and the Online Region
765.677.4200
Editors:
Mark Alexander
(mark.alexander@indwes.edu)
Brad Garner
(brad.garner@indwes.edu)
Indiana Wesleyan University
1900 West 50th Street
Marion, IN 46953
Volume 1 Number 10
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eBooks in Higher Education...continued
What will be most interesting to observe is the
impact of e-Books on libraries and campus
bookstores. We have seen the ways in which
online purchasing has impacted traditional
bookstore venues (e.g., Borders). The same
destiny may be possible for campus libraries.
This phenomenon is gaining traction as libraries
move from being thought of in terms of place
and space to a more globally accessible digital
warehouse that offers learning resources in a
variety of media formats. It will be interesting
to observe the role and function of bookstores
and libraries as the availability of e-Books and
other digital resources continues to gain
traction.
References
Howard, J. (February 1, 2013). For many students, print is still king. Chronicle of Higher Education, 59(21), A-19-20.
Lei, S. A., Bartlett, K. A., Gorney, S. E., & Herschbach, T. R. (2010). Resistance to reading compliance among college students: Instructors’ perspectives.
College Student Journal, 44(2), 219-229
Parry, M. (November 23, 2012). Now E-Textbooks can report back on students’ reading habits [Electronic version]. Retrieved from Chronicle of Higher
Education, 59(12), http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/now-e-textbooks-can-report-back-on-students-reading- habits/40928.
Reynolds, R. (2011). Trends influencing the growth of digital textbooks in US higher education. Publishing Research Quarterly, 27(2), 178-187.
A Learning Opportunity for Online Faculty:
“Faculty Night Live” Technology Webinars
The Center for Learning and Innovation is pleased to announce a series of online
webinars for faculty on the use of technology in teaching, Blackboard, and a variety
of other tools. Learn, gain new skills, and ask questions, all from the comfort of your
home. The first two opportunities are:
“Bb Wikis: Managing and Grading”
with Stephen Anthony
Thursday, February 28th,
from 3:32P.M. to 4:17 P.M. (Eastern)
“Bb Journals and Blogs”
with Stephen Anthony
Wednesday, March 4th,
from 8:32 to 9:17 P.M. (Eastern)
To sign up for these exciting opportunities, send an email to: CLI@indwes.edu.
We will then send you the directions to log on and participate.