The role of business agreements in defining textbook affordability and digital materials: A document analysis

Adopting digital materials such as eTextbooks and e-coursepacks is a potential strategy to address textbook affordability in the United States. However, university business relationships with bookstore vendors implicitly structure which instructional resources are available and in what manner. In this study, a document analysis was conducted on the bookstore contracts for the universities included in the State University System of Florida. Namely, issues of textbook affordability, digital material terminology and seller exclusivity were investigated. It was found that textbook affordability was generally conceived in terms of print rental textbooks and buyback programs, and that eTextbooks were priced higher than print textbooks (25% to 30% markup). Implications and recommendations for change are shared.DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v5i4.28

TOPR Turns 10! Celebrating 10 Years Of Curating UCF’S Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

In this paper, the editors of the Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository (TOPR) will share global insights derived from the last ten years of pedagogical entries. What technologies and techniques of online teaching and learning were “hot” a decade ago, and what is currently trending? What are the most visited entries? TOPR’s value in relation to the COVID-19 crisis will be explored, as many educators were forced to teach in remote and online learning environments for the first time. Finally, readers will learn about the process of submitting their own strategies to TOPR, along with an update on the peer-review process for submissions in Spring 2021

Disrupting the Model: Fostering Cultural Change Through Academic Partnerships

Book chapter featured in the book, Affordable course materials: Electronic textbooks and open educational resources. This chapter highlights the University of Central Florida\u27s efforts and experiences related to textbook affordability and open educational resources

Poking the bear: Promoting textbook affordability in the face of a restrictive institutional environment

Librarians and instructional designers formed an informal partnership to promote low-cost textbook solutions in the absence of formal initiatives at a public, four-year institution. Learn how we negotiated institutional barriers such as bookstore contract prohibitions and protected revenue streams. Our case examples describe solutions and workflows undertaken to transform course materials, in addition to activities being pursued to make textbook affordability an institutional priority

Exploring the Dimensions of Self-Efficacy in Virtual World Learning: Environment, Task, and Content

This study explores the dimensionality of college students\u27 self-efficacy related to their academic activities in the open-ended virtual world of Second Life (SL). To do this, relevant dimensions of self-efficacy were theoretically derived, and items to measure these dimensions were developed and then assessed using a survey methodology. Using data from 486 students enrolled in an introductory accounting course supplemented by the use of SL, the results of this study confirm the distinction of three dimensions of self-efficacy: Virtual World-Environment Self-Efficacy (VWE-SE), Learning Domain Self-Efficacy (LD-SE), and Virtual World-Learning Domain SelfEfficacy (VWLD-SE). Additionally, this study found that both VWE-SE and VWLD-SE were correlated with course learning. Implications for research and course design are discussed

Strategies for Creating a Community of Inquiry through Online Asynchronous Discussions

Asynchronous discussions are often utilized in online courses to provide a venue for students to openly communicate and build shared understanding, and for instructors to skillfully facilitate the process. While discussions can be invaluable toward creating and sustaining an online community of inquiry (CoI), they are not effective if not optimally designed. It is the authors\u27 position that it is helpful to identify research-proven online discussion strategies and conceptualize them into the CoI framework, which has been extensively studied and validated. This framework posits that there are three interrelated presences – social, cognitive, and teaching – that must be perceived by members in order to facilitate a successful educational experience. Classifying strategies within this framework may guide instructors to purposefully select and employ methods that encourage productive, efficient, and meaningful discussions. Strategies, such as providing prompt but modest feedback, peer facilitation, protocol discussion prompts, and providing audio feedback, were found to support multiple presences in a review of the literature. Based on these findings, it is argued that educators need to employ discussion strategies that integrate all three presences in order to support an effective online CoI

Exploring students’ mobile learning practices in higher education

A university-wide survey on students\u27 mobile learning practices showed that ownership of mobile devices is high among students and that tablets are the most popular devices for academic purposes. The survey also found that mobile learning typically occurs outside the classroom, with only limited guidance from instructors. To improve mobile learning effectiveness, students and instructors need help adopting more effective learning and teaching practices across content areas

Facilitating professional development of mobile and eTextbook technologies

Purpose – While the integration of mobile and eTextbook technologies is rapidly growing throughout higher education learning environments, these technologies are often challenging to implement across the university landscape. Professional development tailored to these fluid and evolving technologies is essential to supporting effective classroom integration. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a special interest group approach to professional development regarding mobile and eTextbook technologies implemented by one university in the USA. Issues such as recruitment of members, selection of face-to-face and online spaces, and curriculum design are addressed. Design/methodology/approach – To evaluate effectiveness, a survey was given to the participants that asked about sense of community, perceived increase in knowledge and teaching practices, and overall satisfaction with the experience. Findings – The interrelated factors of sense of community, knowledge, and teaching practices were identified as valuable, along with group organization. Survey results revealed that participants highly valued the opportunity to share best practices with others they typically would not, and benefitted from the expertise of guest speakers. Online spaces were found to serve as a repository of on-demand resources and dissemination of information, while face-to-face meetings capitalized on interactivity and nurtured community. Sharing the work of the members with the university and beyond was critical to incentivizing members to produce, and also built further professional networks. The planning team identified a tension between encouraging active involvement from instructors and offering it in convenient ways given their other commitments. Originality/value – Although this is a single case, this analysis suggests generalizable strategies that may create and sustain a community interested in mobile and eTextbook technologies