Instructors are usually trying to get students to leave their cellphones alone during class. But now some professors have the bright idea of bringing those devices into the educational process.
Lucianne Sweder, an education lecturer at Governors State University, in Illinois, gave a presentation on that topic at the League for Innovation in the Community College’s technology conference this week. She didn’t recommend that anyone teach an entire online course via a hand-held device. But cellphones and other mobile devices work great for some educational purposes, she said.
Instead of using flashcards, students can use their cellphones to access computer programs that quiz them on various subjects. The wireless programs can even adjust to how well a student is doing by asking fewer questions on what he or she seems to have down cold and more on topics that aren’t going so well.
Other options include providing images with audio commentary, or even video snippets covering different subjects. Cellphones and other devices nowadays are able to play video at high resolution, she said, even on such a small screen. “Never worry about the size of the screen,” Ms. Sweder said. “You get one that you like, that’s good for your eyes.”
She recommended that instructors decide ahead of time whether they need to set any guidelines for their students’ cellphone text messaging. Young people are known to abbreviate their text messages to the point of incomprehensibility. And that could be counterproductive if an instructor is working on a class on, say, improving student literacy. —Dan Carnevale
11 Responses to Education on the Go
Masrawy Watany - May 1, 2012 at 1:52 am
I have just published my 3rd book a week ago. I have had a hard situation with my first book index, as you said indexers are so expensive, so i decided to do it myself. So tiring and the result was not so good. My second book index with a lot better … I have used a helping software called (pdf index generator – http://www.pdfindexgenerator.com) to organize the index. I took some time to learn how to use it, of course it did not create my index, but it made things a lot easier and organized for me.
Using this software with my 3rd book and learning how to really use it. Wow, i like my 3rd book index :)
And thanks for mentioning (The Chicago Manual of Style). I will read that to understand the indexing world better.
englishwlu - May 1, 2012 at 6:59 am
A good index lets the reader see the shape of the argument of the book, the methodology and the intellectual geneaology of the ideas. I’ve made four indices by myself, and while having a laptop on hand helps, nothing beats working from proofs with a stack of index cards. Yes, it’s hard work. But so often the index of a book really doesn’t help me navigate it, and then I wonder how much was paid for an ineffective tool.
Carolyn Roosevelt - May 1, 2012 at 7:41 am
Sellar and Yeatman’s immortal ’1066 and All That’ puts it so well: “Their thanks are also due to their wife, for not preparing the index wrong. There is no index.”
Ruth Ellis - May 1, 2012 at 11:15 am
As a professional indexer I’d like to say thanks for the positive article on our profession and I’ll be looking forward to reading the follow up next week. I do feel the need to comment on the ‘expensive’ line though. Without an index, will the book achieve as high a sales rate? As you say in the article, readers will browse the index as a way into understanding the book and will be influenced by it when making a purchase. Even when purchasing online, with Amazon’s Look Inside, the index will be perused – and if there isn’t one they may buy another book instead of yours.
If an author does decide to do it themselves, they should be cautious of cheap software available which imply that an index can be automatically generated – in most cases they create a concordance rather than a coherent index, and much further work will be required afterwards.
Authors should also be aware that the index is near the end of the book production process and be prepared to work to a very tight deadline. Would their time be better spent working on something else? Professional indexers have invested in the right tools to do the job effectively.
There are further discussions on the merits of an index, and who should do it for you on the Society of Indexers website http://www.indexers.org.uk/index.php?id=132
theatheist - May 1, 2012 at 11:15 am
Good indexes got me through graduate school. A good index tells you if you even want to read a certain book, or if reading it would be a huge waste of time. (When time is short, I mean.)
Mini Priya R - May 1, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Thank u.
proftowanda - May 1, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I agree, as an author who had to index my own first book — yes, it was wicked fun! and before computerization — and had a professional indexer provided by the publisher for my second book. Even so, it is crucial that the author give guidance to the indexer, not only on the larger arguments to give the index a coherence; consider going back to the book prospectus to share the concisely stated arguments with the indexer to develop a sort of strategic approach.
Also consider going back to the portion of the prospectus on potential marketing of the book for lesser tactics in indexing, such as some that I had thought through for indexing my own book from experience as a researcher and from watching and talking with buyers browsing relevant sections at bookstores. I realized that many readers look to the index for clues as cues to usefulness of a book before buying it; for example, for a history, it is more than worthwhile to put place names in the index, as nonacademic readers of “crossover books” use the index for clues for gift-giving to relatives and friends in a city or town.
Such tactics that had worked to help to sell my first book were shared with the indexer for the second book — who, despite her long experience was more than willing to work together and taught me more tools of her trade. The second book was a sales success again, and with a lot less work for me, thanks to the indexer . . . although, again, I did miss the wicked fun!
dottyeyes - May 3, 2012 at 1:40 pm
A good example of your point is the indexes in many of those charity cookbooks. The indexes in these books are clearly computer-generated and completely worthless. Looking up a recipe that I remembered for, say, a yummy potato casserole, I find it under “D,” for “Dandy Potato Casserole.” And then I see the zucchini bread recipe under “A”–of course!–for “Aunt Martha’s no-fail zucchini bread.”
carolhamill - May 3, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I am a back-of-the book indexer. It is important to explain to researchers, publishers and authors why a good index will save them time, and locate information they would miss by just looking in the Table of Contents. Even electronic documents need indexes. I have examples of how a good index works at my website http://www.island.net/~hamill/hamill_indexing.htm. I also have a page with tips for authors who are indexing their own book. Carol Hamill
robin fay - May 4, 2012 at 2:50 pm
really interesting article…
dank48 - May 7, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Another good guide imo is Indexing for Editors and Authors: A Practical Guide to Understanding Indexes, by Leise, Mertes, and Badgett, published by the American Society of Indexers.
Doing your own index makes as much sense as cutting your own hair. Some can; most can’t.