eTextbooks Options in Higher Education
Could your class go from this 
to this?
In a recent poll of CAS students, it was found by overwhelming results that students would like to have an eBook or eTextbook option for their classes. Of the 446 students over the age of 19 who responded to the survey over 85% found access to their textbook in an eBook or eText format as well as traditional textbook format to be some level of useful ranging from somewhat useful to very useful. This brings about some important questions for educators as they prepare this summer for the fall semester – What is the deal with eTextbooks? Is the book associated with the class available in an electronic format? How does an eTextbook work?
Remarkable Resources
With the world literally at our fingertips, thanks to technology, the walls of the traditional classroom no long inhibit what resources we can utilize in our courses. One great example of this is a program established by MIT called MIT OpenCourseWare or OCW. This program is a web-based publication of almost all MIT course content. The best part is OCW is open and available with no login or registration required. You can find this program at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm or check out your app store and download the MIT OCW app for free!
Why is this a great resource? Faculties no longer have to reinvent the wheel each semester! They can collaborate and work with resources that have already been established. Higher education seems to be moving towards sharing and collaborating for the best advancement of the field as the idea of open source learning continues to grow.
UAB and Blackgboard Goes Mobile!
With the new digital age, our society is less likely than ever to hold still. We are in the mobile age, everything is mobile! Now our learning can be, too! Not only can you now find a UAB app for the iPhone but UAB has officially launched Blackboard Mobile Learn for UAB's Blackboard Learn system for multiple platforms including the Android and Apple devices. Students and instructors can now access their courses from anywhere using an applications built specifically for Blackboard. This new app is a great way to keep in touch with what's going on in your courses. Blackboard Mobile Learn also makes mobile communication between classmates, students, and instructors seamless and simple.
