Resources at the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School

Linda Bennett has co-ordinated this entry. This piece is by Professor Huw Morris, Manchester Metropolitan University.

The staff at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School have been experimenting with a range of print on demand and customised e-textbook solutions to support their courses, working with Pearson Education. An increasing number of the modules on offer on general business degrees and accounting and finance awards now have custom edited textbooks which bring together chapters from a range of Pearson titles under one cover. These books also frequently include case studies from Pearson’s extensive range of collaborative partners as well as the tutors own course notes.

For some of the bigger modules on offer in the Business School, Pearson has also been providing e-learning materials to put into the University’s virtual learning environment (WebCT Vista).

However, perhaps the most innovative recent edition to the range of materials in use at MMUBS are Pearson’s Vangonotes which provide audio versions of standard textbook chapters in a form that can be played on MP3 players and iPods.

Close to forty percent of today’s university students own an MP3 player, according to a recent survey, and three quarters of these students use the portable device daily. With the arrival of VangoNotes, audio study guides tied to Pearson textbooks, work and music can now exist peacefully on students’ playlists. Students can purchase select chapters or the complete set of chapter reviews. VangoNotes provide students the flexibility to study during the times they are unable to read a textbook or look at a computer screen.

Spanning the entire college curriculum, VangoNotes work on over 200 MP3 players including all Apple® iPods®, and include “need to know” concepts for each area of study; practice tests; and audio “flashcards” to help review key ideas and terms.

Titles currently available include:

• VangoNotes for the best selling Marketing Management, 12th Edition, by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller;
• VangoNotes for Psychology, 8th Edition, by Carol Wade and Carol Tavris;
• VangoNotes for America: Past and Present, 8th Edition, by Robert A. Divine;
• VangoNotes for Janson’s History of Art, 7th Edition, by Davies et al.

Vangnotes web site
Pearson vangonotes press release
Vangnotes on Audible

Filed Under: [Publishing, eBooks, Technology] •

Posted on 20 Jun 2007 around 12pm by Web Admin