Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58065
"WHEN WE CONDUCT FACULTY TRAINING, FACULTY WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DEVELOP COURSES WITH STRONG INSTRUCTOR PRESENCE EMBEDDED, CREATE INTERACTIVE COURSES THAT ADDRESS MULTIPLE LEARNING STYLES, FACILITATE AND RESPOND TO DISCUSSIONS, AND GIVE ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK ON ASSIGNMENTS." —Matthew Schnittman, eCollege ness classroom. But while the use of e-print materials is growing, say pro- viders, traditionally printed materials are still the norm. For example, students and profes- the measure include organizations such as Blackboard, MHHE, and eCollege, as well as open-source software developers such as ANGEL and Sakai. Products following the standard will be available from some manufacturers as early as this spring. Assistance for Faculty Manufacturers emphasize that while they work to add more features to their software, instructors are also striving to adapt their teaching styles to improve the quality of online courses. Software and content providers stress that they are adding features that aim to provide an infrastructure that builds faculty engagement with students into online formats. Says Schnittman of eCollege, "When we conduct faculty train- ing, faculty want to know how to develop courses with strong instruc- tor presence embedded, create inter- active courses that address multiple learning styles, facilitate and respond to discussions, and give actionable feedback on assignments." As a result, eCollege has devel- oped a new and enhanced version of its Content Manager, which is designed to provide faculty greater flexibility in how online course content is authored, managed, and delivered. It also has enhanced its ClassLife synchronous suite to enable greater collaboration among groups. In response to faculty requests for more interactive teaching tools, Blackboard will launch its Black- board Beyond Initiative early this year. The initiative aims to accom- plish four objectives: provide a global learning objects catalog that allows any user to publish or search for learning resources; develop Scholar.com, a Web service to con- nect students and faculty across disciplines and institutions; launch "e-Portfolios for life," which allows users to post their learning port- folios to a central site for long-term use; and create a benchmarking ser- vice where clients can anonymously share data and best practices. For its part, MHHE's Home- work Manager allows instructors to create and automatically grade homework, tests, and quizzes, and deliver instant feedback to students. For instructors who assign group projects, MHHE's Team Learning Assistant provides advice on manag- ing teams, integrates teams into syl- labi, and assists with team grading. Print Versus E-Print With so much digital content avail- able, many might think that e-books and online news sources are quickly becoming a mainstay in the busi- sors still use the print edition of The Wall Street Journal much more than its online counterpart, WSJ.com, says Mark Campbell, director of college marketing and sales for Dow Jones & Company. "Many educators have used our print edition in their syllabi for years—or decades. Therefore, changing those habits can be a chal- lenge," says Campbell. "Our edu- cational representatives are charged with demonstrating to faculty the robust features available on WSJ.com and ProfessorJournal.com, which simplify integration of The Wall Street Journal into any curriculum." And while use of MHHE's e-book products has increased, e- books remain only a small part of the company's digital content sales, says Kourmadas. "We've worked hard to educate faculty on the avail- ability of e-books, but in the end, it's largely a student's choice," he says. "While current demand for e- books is still modest, it's increasing substantially every semester." Toward More Effective E-Learning E-learning has long been viewed as a lesser educational option than face-to-face learning. Even with all the latest technological advances, few educators would choose a com- pletely online format if face-to-face interaction was possible. More and more, however, stu- dents are choosing online formats for a variety of personal reasons, whether it's a group of executives in India who want to take courses BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 57