The Evolution of Affordable Content Efforts in the Higher Education Environment: Programs, Case Studies, and Examples provides both inspiration and guidance for those beginning work on affordable content and evidence of the growth that has occurred in this arena over the last decade. While some institutions have been providing students affordable content options for over 100 years, many others have found the need to launch new programs in response to the escalating costs of higher education and the impact that has on student learning. This book provides examples from different types and sizes of institutions and includes voices from a wide range of contributors including faculty, instructional designers, academic technologists, librarians, bookstore staff, and more. The Evolution of Affordable Content demonstrates the range of affordable content options that are possible today-from openly licensed content to library licensed materials and all inclusive purchase models to institution-wide student textbook rental models.

A report from the front lines of higher education and technology that chronicles efforts to transform teaching, learning, and opportunity. Colleges and universities have become increasingly costly, and, except for a handful of highly selective, elite institutions, unresponsive to twenty-first-century needs. But for the past few years, technology-fueled innovation has begun to transform higher education, introducing new ways to disseminate knowledge and better ways to learn—all at lower cost. In this impassioned account, Richard DeMillo tells the behind-the-scenes story of these pioneering efforts and offers a roadmap for transforming higher education. Building on his earlier book, Abelard to Apple, DeMillo argues that the current system of higher education is clearly unsustainable. Colleges and universities are in financial crisis. Tuition rises inexorably. Graduates of reputable schools often fail to learn basic skills, and many cannot find suitable jobs. Meanwhile, student-loan default rates have soared while the elite Ivy and near-Ivy schools seem remote and irrelevant. Where are the revolutionaries who can save higher education? DeMillo's heroes are a small band of innovators who are bringing the revolution in technology to colleges and universities. DeMillo chronicles, among other things, the invention of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) by professors at Stanford and MIT; Salman Khan's Khan Academy; the use of technology by struggling historically black colleges and universities to make learning more accessible; and the latest research on learning and the brain. He describes the revolution's goals and the entrenched hierarchical system it aims to overthrow; and he reframes the nature of the contract between society and its universities. The new institutions of a transformed higher education promise to demonstrate not only that education has value but also that it has values—virtues for the common good.

This two-volume set LNCS 12774 and 12775 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media, SCSM 2021, held as part of the 23rd International Conference, HCI International 2021, which took place in July 2021. Due to COVID-19 pandemic the conference was held virtually. The total of 1276 papers and 241 posters included in the 39 HCII 2021 proceedings volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from 5222 submissions. The papers of SCSM 2021, Part I, are organized in topical sections named: Computer Mediated Communication; Social Network Analysis; Experience Design in Social Computing.

This volume takes a comprehensive and broad look at e-text programs across a wide spectrum of programs, institutions, and policies in three parts. The first part showcases several policy papers to contextualize the discussion and highlight the reasons for IAE programs’ structure and the obstacles they face for implementation. The second part is an in-depth exploration of various case studies that provide a detailed description of IAE programs, including information about program elements, program structure, program size, and insights into how programs are operationalized, and their shortcomings and benefits to students and stakeholders. The final part is a selection of research papers that offer evidence-based support for the adoption of IAE programs in terms of student success, access, engagement, costs, and a variety of other student and institutional outcomes. There are approximately 300 institutions of higher education that currently have some form of Inclusive Access or Open Educational Resources E-text (IAE) program in the United States, but there is little scholarship that engages on the topic of assessing these programs’ effect on student success. The results of the research studies included in this volume will inform faculty, administrators, and policy-makers who seek to support the development, adoption, and implementation of IAE programs based on their potential positive effects on student success and other outcomes.

Since the spread of COVID-19, conferences have been canceled, schools have closed, and libraries around the world are facing difficult decisions on which services to offer and how, ranging from minimal restrictions to full closures. Depending on the country, state, or city, a government may have a different approach, sometimes ordering the closure of all institutions, others indicating that it’s business as usual, and others simply leaving decisions up to library directors. All libraries worldwide have been affected, from university libraries to public library systems and national libraries. Throughout these closures, libraries continue to provide services to their communities, which has led to an emerging area of research on library services, new emerging technologies, and the advancements made to libraries during this global health crisis. The Handbook of Research on Library Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic consists of chapters that contain essential library services and emerging research and technology that evolved and/or has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the challenges and opportunities that have been undertaken as a result. The chapters provide in-depth research, surveys, and information on areas such as remote working, machine learning, data management, and the role of information during COVID-19. This book is a valuable reference tool for practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in the current state of libraries during a pandemic and the future outlook.

The integration of new technology and global collaboration has undoubtedly transformed learning in higher education from the traditional classroom setting into a domain of support services, academic programs, and educational products which are made available to learners. The Handbook of Research on Transnational Higher Education is a unique compilation of the most recent research done by higher education professionals in the areas of policy, governance, technology, marketing, and leadership development. This publication succeeds in highlighting the most important strategies and policies for professionals, policymakers, administrators, and researchers interested in higher education management.

The mission of higher education in the 21st century must focus on optimizing learning for all students. In a shift from prioritizing effective teaching to active learning, it is understood that computer-enhanced environments provide a variety of ways to reach a wide range of learners who have differing backgrounds, ages, learning needs, and expectations. Integrating technology into teaching assumes greater importance to improve the learning experience. Optimizing Higher Education Learning Through Activities and Assessments is a collection of innovative research that explores the link between effective course design and student engagement and optimizes learning and assessments in technology-enhanced environments and among diverse student populations. Its focus is on providing an understanding of the essential link between practices for effective “activities” and strategies for effective “assessments,” as well as providing examples of course designs aligned with assessments, positioning college educators both as leaders and followers in the cycle of lifelong learning. While highlighting a broad range of topics including collaborative teaching, active learning, and flipped classroom methods, this book is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, administrators, researchers, academicians, and students.