FREE MIS Textbooks for Students

Flat World Knowledge and others have ‘open education resources’ (i.e., free) for some formats of the books. The site also has a list of universities that have adopted the book. For those teaching a core Information Systems course I encourage you to review Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology—by John Gallaher: http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/printed-book/227252

The benefit is the price (free for students if read online) and availability of multiple formats for students. The book has exam/quiz supplements in Blackboard format as well as Powerpoint presentations. It may be an option to help reduce the cost of textbooks for students if the quality is reasonable. From what I can see the book is continuously being updated and quality is good.

Pricing for Books at Flat World Knowledge:

• Read Online- FREE
• Hard Copy (Color) - $69
• Hard Copy (Black & White) - $35
• Download a PDF to Read Offline and/or Print Yourself - $25
• Audiobook - $40
• Ebook (kindle, nook, ipad) - $25

I’m not opposed to textbooks from traditional publishers, but in the courses that may require multiple texts, I’m a proponent of finding inexpensive or free materials for students at least for some of those required texts, given they’re of similar quality and based on the purpose of the text for use in the course.

Tenure Portfolio Submitted... It's time to party!

I submitted my Tenure portfolio to the Dean's office yesterday at 4:45 PM (due by 5PM), and it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I think if I would have had the weekend to complete work on it I would have continued to work up to the last minute. I think it may be my education courses that emphasized portfolios, organization, etc., so I like to have them well organized. I am confident in the work I included in my portfolio. My Statement of Accomplishments is likely way too lengthy, and I am sure I could have added more supporting documents for teaching, research or service, but I tried to be as concise as possible.

The past two weeks have been even crazier than normal. As soon as I returned from India our college faculty had an Assurance of Learning Retreat and an Online Teaching workshop. I had to prepare for my online course to make sure it was ready for Tuesday's first day of class, and then are those other two classes I teach. At the same time my tenure portfolio was due on Friday. Needless to say I breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday afternoon at 5 PM. During this process I have been very thankful for a supportive division chair and dean. A small amount of encouragement and positive feedback goes a long way. I need to remember to do the same as an instructor.