Comments on: Macmillan’s DynamicBooks Lets Professors Customize the Content of College Textbooks http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/2010/02/22/macmillans-dynamicbooks-lets-professors-customize-the-content-of-college-textbooks/ Freelance Writing for College Textbook Publishers: Instructor Manuals | Test Questions | Student Study Guides | Companion Sites | Lecture Outlines | PowerPoint Presentations | Internet Exercises | Lab Manuals | Copyediting | Find Editors | Win Assignments | Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:39:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: John Soares http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/2010/02/22/macmillans-dynamicbooks-lets-professors-customize-the-content-of-college-textbooks/comment-page-1/#comment-625 John Soares Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:13:22 +0000 http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/?p=848#comment-625 Margaret, you make some good points here. I do think that overall using the DynamicBooks model will improve both the teaching and the learning experience in college. I feel that there will be some isolated problems with a few profs removing important information from texts, but the advantages of a flexible textbook will vastly outweigh this downside. It will be a problem for those students and parents who are trying to determine the rigor of a program by looking at the required texts when they don't know if much of the meat of those texts has been watered down by profs. Margaret, you make some good points here. I do think that overall using the DynamicBooks model will improve both the teaching and the learning experience in college.

I feel that there will be some isolated problems with a few profs removing important information from texts, but the advantages of a flexible textbook will vastly outweigh this downside.

It will be a problem for those students and parents who are trying to determine the rigor of a program by looking at the required texts when they don’t know if much of the meat of those texts has been watered down by profs.

]]> By: Margaret http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/2010/02/22/macmillans-dynamicbooks-lets-professors-customize-the-content-of-college-textbooks/comment-page-1/#comment-624 Margaret Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:51:46 +0000 http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/?p=848#comment-624 In the context of teaching a significant math or science course, such as calculus or physics, where a 2-semester or 3-quarter sequence is required to cover all the material, using an e-book with just the material to be covered in that session is an advantage to both the teachers and students. In the context where an egotistical professor can substitute his own material for that in the assigned textbook, it may not ensure that the students learn what they need for the continuation of the course in the next session. Also, wholesale substitutions may subvert the ability of parents and students to select a college program based on the quality of the textbooks assigned by the department, among other considerations. It's already a mess when colleges allow professors to assign the badly written textbooks they authored, rather than a standard textbook. In the context of teaching a significant math or science course, such as calculus or physics, where a 2-semester or 3-quarter sequence is required to cover all the material, using an e-book with just the material to be covered in that session is an advantage to both the teachers and students. In the context where an egotistical professor can substitute his own material for that in the assigned textbook, it may not ensure that the students learn what they need for the continuation of the course in the next session.

Also, wholesale substitutions may subvert the ability of parents and students to select a college program based on the quality of the textbooks assigned by the department, among other considerations. It’s already a mess when colleges allow professors to assign the badly written textbooks they authored, rather than a standard textbook.

]]> By: Carol55 http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/2010/02/22/macmillans-dynamicbooks-lets-professors-customize-the-content-of-college-textbooks/comment-page-1/#comment-623 Carol55 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:34:19 +0000 http://writingcollegetextbooksupplements.com/blog/?p=848#comment-623 great information.. help is on the way to students with big textbook bills.. there is a good article here about all the ways out there now to save money on college textbooks.. good advice until this app becomes more widely available: http://www.celebrationideasonline.com/saving-money-on-college-textbooks.html great information.. help is on the way to students with big textbook bills.. there is a good article here about all the ways out there now to save money on college textbooks.. good advice until this app becomes more widely available:
http://www.celebrationideasonline.com/saving-money-on-college-textbooks.html

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