Hi everyone,
One of the items I'd like to blog about here are the changes that I'm making to the POS 111 American Government course for Fall. After hearing many, many excuses over the years for why students don't have the correct version of the textbook, I've opted to go with an ebook embedded within the course. In addition, I'm changing the quiz structure slightly (one quiz per chapter instead of two and the questions will be randomly selected from a larger pool of questions for each attempt at a quiz - I allow students to retake the quizzes as many times as they want prior to a unit closing so they can earn a potential 100% on them if they work at it).
I'd be interested in any feedback from other instructors about the pros and cons of having the textbook directly in the course, as well as any other thoughts you may have on interesting assignments in your courses. What works, what doesn't work?
Thanks,
Holly DB
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I've used an online text in my Cisco networking classes for over 10 years now. I like the interactive nature of the text which has flash activities, practice quizzes and labs embedded. It makes the reading of some pretty dry stuff tolerable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, be ready for the complaints. Many folks don't like to read off screens for extended times. Also, having it embedded into the class becomes an issue for folks who like to read while they are offline or travelling. Lastly, students will have a tough time getting started if a code is required. (They just aren't used to the process.)
Good luck! Be sure to let us know how it goes.
I have thought about using an e-book, but the fact is, I do not like them myself. Reading off a computer screen all the time is very tiring. I can see where Nathan says there will be complaints. It would be nice if a book has the option of e-book or hard copy. One of my publishers has that for Photoshop, however, they didn't include the data files. Not a good option. I am sure the future holds more e-books. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThe CCCOnline accounting department uses an e-book embedded in 4 courses, soon to be 5. Overall, my students seem to like it, perhaps primarily because of the lower cost. I do have them all post their own tips for using the online book each term, and many of them share techniques for easing eye-strain, etc., when reading online.
ReplyDeleteCCCOnline does give students the option of purchasing a print copy of the regular book, in some instances an "alternate" version of the print book (black and white, for the most part), or of printing the ebook pages they want to read offline (which, of course, can become expensive). Of course, they have to pay the digital content fee regardless of whether they purchase a print book, so that is a "sore point" with some students. :)
Like Nate, I think the best feature of the books that we use is the interactive nature of them.