An Online Foundation for Course Content: Virtual Textbooks, Web Hot Spots, and Weekly Newsflashes

Author Information
Author(s): 
John LeBaron
Author(s): 
Distinguished Professor
Author(s): 
College of Education and Applied Professions
Author(s): 
Western Carolina University; Professor Emeritus
Author(s): 
UML
Institution(s) or Organization(s) Where EP Occurred: 
University of Massachusetts-Lowell
Effective Practice Abstract/Summary
Abstract/Summary of Effective Practice: 

University of Massachusetts Lowell offers The Virtual Textbook (VT), which provides valuable online resources to the students.

Description of the Effective Practice
Description of the Effective Practice: 

How this practice supports access: The University of Massachusetts Lowell's online master's degree program in educational administration includes the course Theory & Research in Curriculum (TRC). Capitalizing on resources uniquely available to online students, TRC provides a three-legged foundation for student research: - A "virtual textbook" (VT) that replaces the standard, costly paper-based text. - Weekly recommended web "hot spots" that supplement the required VT readings. - Weekly current "newsflashes" that provide direct links to current news items. This "resource tripod" ranges from scholarly research (the VT) to relevant current news in popular media ("newsflashes"). Weekly lecture notes provide the integrative framework for student research pursued through each leg of the research tripod. Traditional textbooks for this course have seemed dated, turgid, of limited practical value, and unduly expensive. Therefore, we created a virtual text (VT) of required readings carefully vetted from UML digital library resources and open web sites. These include journal articles, professional association position papers, and research from government and R&D sources. Thus, students benefit from the more diverse and contemporary perspectives on the course theme than the perspectives which any single textbook could offer. Supplementing the core VT is an offering of recommended resources -- called "web hot spots" -- providing weekly links to relevant resources in a variety of media available on the open WWW. Finally, in order to provide students with opportunities to connect the theory of curriculum to practical issues of immediate concern, each week the LMS pop-up "announcements" function posts web-based "newsflashes" of current news reports, upcoming webcasts, internet conferences, and so forth culled from online periodicals and virtual news clipping services such as ASCD Smart Brief and Education Week online. Weekly discussion threads and chats expand on all three legs of this resource tripod. Related student postings on the discussion threads respond to a weekly two-part discussion-starter asking students to reflect on how the virtual text aligns with their workplace settings. These threads include weekly written instructor analyses and syntheses of student postings. Students build on TRC online information sources through a "Research Treasure Hunt" assignment. This assignment asks each student to cull, verify, annotate and report resources researched in a coherent narrative response to questions posed earlier by a student peer. Students are guided in authenticating online information sources through web links embedded in the TRC course site (see below).

Supporting Information for this Effective Practice
Evidence of Effectiveness: 

Using online Web-based survey forms, TRC has conducted anonymous mid-term and end-of-course student evaluations. Because the VT project was implemented in summer 2004, student evaluations are not yet available. From the fall 2003 final student survey, scaled questions about the newsflashes revealed nearly unanimous student acceptance. All responders (N=11) indicated that the newsflashes provided a "real world" perspective and made the course more enjoyable. All but one indicated that the newsflashes kept them updated on current educational events. The fall 2003 mid-term student evaluation (N=15) produced comparable results for the web hot spots. All responders but one indicated regularly checking the hot spots and recommended retaining this feature in future TRC iterations. All but three suggested having used the hot spots to supplement their scholarly course research and to enhance their professional practice. Open-ended survey comments about the newsflashes and hot spots were overwhelmingly positive.

Estimate the probable costs associated with this practice: 

The resources described above are freely accessible to students at no cost beyond the standard course tuition and fee. Typically, textbooks assigned in the earlier course iterations carried prices approaching $100.

References, supporting documents: 

http://gse.uml.edu/lebaron/Oulu-TAPfinal_030922.pdf

Other Comments: 

All the resources mentioned here are transparently accessible to students, who need only off-the-shelf software applications and plug-ins common to any reasonably experienced Internet user. The range of resource types made available -- combined with follow-up work expected of students and instructors alike -- demonstrate that most online research sources can be legitimate, provided that users perform the necessary homework to authenticate them, and that each resource is explicitly connected to an appropriate purpose for it. Creating a fully online research foundation carries distinct advantages and challenges for the instructor. Particularly beneficial is the instructor's capacity to craft a configuration of resources ranging from pure scholarship to real-world practice that aligns precisely with course aims and structure. These resources tend to be more current than anything available from a one-size-fits-all printed text. From our experience, the relative quality of discourse and diversity of perspective confers unqualified benefits. Given the $1,200+ course tuition price tag, a $100 textbook cost saving represents a clear bonus for students. On the other hand, the time required for instructors to select, verify and align resources from multiple online sources considerably exceeds that of examining available course textbooks. For the VT and the Web hot spots, at least five resources are typically consulted for each one ultimately selected. Therefore, the extra time commitment begins when the course is under preparation and continues through its termination in practice. Web link availability constantly needs to be checked, and substitutions made if a link should become inactive, or if a more appropriate resource is found for an existing link. It might also be worth mentioning that the VT is not an e-book, but rather a collection of individual website readings that students access directly through the links provided within the course. Some of the readings are available electronically through the UML library. This eliminates the access-related logistical problems that have sometimes been associated with e-books.

Contact(s) for this Effective Practice
Effective Practice Contact: 
John LeBaron, Distinguished Professor, College of Education and Applied Professions, Western Carolina University; Professor Emeritus, UML
Email this contact: 
jlebaron@email.wcu.edu
Effective Practice Contact 2: 
Phyllis Gimbel, Coordinator Project K-16 Collaboration, Boston College
Email contact 2: 
pgimbel1@aol.com
Tags:
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