Combining textbooks with Virtual Learning Environments.
An overview of how L.W.W. is providing online resources alongside traditional paper textbooks.
I work as a sales representative for Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. We are a publisher of health related books at all levels. Much of my job is promoting our student textbooks to lecturers for recommendation on their courses, and to promote library sales. We have recently launched an online web portal called the Point which can be found at http://thepoint.lww.com
This portal has several distinct functions. Firstly, students who buy our textbooks no longer just get a paper book. They use a unique code from the front of the book to access online resources designed to complement their text. These vary from text to text, and in the degree of their sophistication. As a quick list, we provide image collections from the text and self testing features, both written and in audio (MP3) format, specially commissioned animations, videos of procedures being carried out, journal articles, online workbooks, glossaries, podcast lectures, interactive case studies, fully searchable text online – the list is extensive.
These are designed to work with the text, add real value and to make learning easier. For example – if a nursing student is attempting to learn how the heart works or how to examine a patient, the book nor only provides a written description with photos, but he/she can now watch a detailed animation of the heart, or a video of a patient exam carried out by a professional. This is much easier to learn from and can be watched over and over as required. As another example, case studies in the texts can be linked to journal articles online and can be more interactive than just in the book. The internet is not constricted by page count as a book is, and so much more content can be provided in this way
Not only do we provide this for the students, but we provide it for the lecturers as well – along with much more designed to help them in their teaching. In many cases we provide a PowerPoint presentation already prepared for every chapter of the text. This can be edited in any way by the lecturer to suit their needs – it simply provides a starting place when preparing new lectures. Along with this we provide suggested lesson plans, written, group and web based assignments, question banks for testing their students and a complete image collection from the text (in Jpeg and PDF and in three formats – labels on/off or leader lines only). We even provide guided lecture notes which give a suggested script for teaching each chapter of the book. These can be used in any way lecturers feel suitable, and are perhaps of most use to lecturers teaching in new areas, or pressed for time.
Thus the textbook is no longer just a printed paper product but a suite of contrasting and complementary learning tools adding value for the user, and which also provide considerable support for those teaching the subject. As a publisher however, it is the sales of our print books to students which support our provision of these resources to lecturers for use in their teaching. We require lecturers to be recommending our texts for purchase by the students on their course before we provide access.
Why do we need the print product at all? While many students do go to the internet for information – who doesn’t? – from the focus groups we’ve run with students, they still turn to a book for studying. The combination of both however is quite potent. We now offer “fully searchable text online” with most of our new textbooks. This feature is not just a digitised version of the book which is open to abuse, but allows students to use search terms to bring up all the relevant pieces from the book that they are looking for. This means they can get straight to the information they are after, browse faster, and waste less time trawling text for particular facts. It also allows a student to leave their large heavy textbook at home when they go into university on the bus, and still be able to access the information when they get there.
I have been demonstrating all this to lecturers in my territory for a year now and most have been very impressed with the range and depth of our online materials. However we cannot simply give these resources away. It is traditional sales of our textbooks which allows us to provide this content free to universities. It is therefore vitally important that academic institutions engage with publishers and support book buying by students on their courses.
Filed Under: [Publishing] •
Posted on 28 Jun 2007 around 7am by Web Admin