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[jerseyjay]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I cannot find anything.

I teach online for several schools, mostly public two-year colleges.

Every semester I get students who have had trouble getting the book two, three weeks into the class. There are various reasons which I won't go into here, and I am sure that some are just making excuses, but at the same time I believe that at least some of them are telling the truth. It is really hard to pass my class without a book, however. And since a large part of the class is online discussion, it doesn't make a lot of sense to compress this.

I am curious what others do in this situation, assuming that I am not the only one.
Do I fail them for the time they don't  have the book and don't participate? Do I tell them to participate even if they haven't read the book? Do I have them make up three weeks worth of material?

[dept_geek]

I put a copy or two of the text in the library, on reserve, for library use only. The students can go to the library to read. They know about this on day one. At this point, no excuses are accepted. 

Ask your chair (or dean or dept admin, depending on your structure) if you can get (or have them get) a copy of the text for the library --- or see if it is already there. Three weeks is a lot to make up - I haven't done that.

Yes, it sort of defeats the whole idea of "online".. but the student doesn't have the book and there is one they can borrow for free on campus.

[jerseyjay]

That's not a bad idea.

The problem is: 1) I am several thousand miles from the school and 2) while many students live more or less nearby, many live even farther away than me (e.g., in other countries). The problem I find is that I think that their problem is real enough, yet it also makes it impossible to pass the class.

I will raise this with the relevant administrator, although it is something that has happened at almost all schools I have taught for.

[hegemony]

Could you devise a specifically book-dependent quiz for early on, say early in week two?  They should surely be able to get the books online/by mail, whether from Amazon or a used-book website or wherever.  The mail gets delivered everywhere.  If they need the book, make their grade dependent on it, with a check like the quiz early on.  And then if they don't get or read the book, their grade will reflect their lack of work -- as it should.

[jacaranda_]

I've not taught online in this way, but do they buy their books at a campus bookstore?  Or are they required to hunt down the books themselves to purchase online?  

If they're supposed to buy them at the campus bookstore, that may also be a significant part of the problem.  I'm having exactly the same dilemma at a traditional school.  Campus bookstores are entities separate from the university and they need to make a profit.  This means that they regularly under-order for classes, regardless of enrollment, assuming that some students will purchase the books online anyhow.  Not sure if that will be relevant.  I'm going to guess that for some of them, it may be simple financial need, especially if the Financial Aid office is behind on distributing their checks.

[jerseyjay]

Here is the problem: a fairly constant portion of each class does not receive the book until well into the class. Often, this is compounded by the fact that online classes tend to be shorter than "real" classes.

Some of the students,I am sure, are just too lazy, incompetent or cheap to buy the book. But others have legitimate reasons for not getting the book. This includes problems with the bookstore, but also packages lost or delayed, used booksellers sending the wrong book, and a million other problems. Yes, this happens in a regular class, too. (At one school I teach at, the bookstore lost my book order, leaving three sections of students without the book.) In fact, it often happens in my summer school courses, when a student buys a book online, but it doesn't arrive till the third week of a five-week course. But in a regular class, it is esaier to deal with this, including by buying books from people who have taken the class earlier, or going to the library. If you are a two-hour drive--or a six-hour flight--from the school, this is not possible.

My problem is not that I am afraid students are "faking" having the book in order to get by. I am sure that some are, and some with the book aren't reading it. But most of the class is fairly book dependent. I am more concerned with those students who have not been able to get the book. I would hope they would learn a lesson about getting their book earlier and not relying on buying books from dodgy online sites. But I don't want to teach a lesson, I want to teach my class.

Here is the email from a student, at a community college in the rural South, that prompted me to write:

I had to order the correct book with a credit card. I won't receive it until [after the third week ends]. Therefore, I will, again, be unable to do the weeks assignments. I fear that I will fail this course unless there's a way to make up for the first three weeks work once I have the correct book.

I really don't get the part about the credit card, but I also don't care because there are variations on the same theme every term. If it were just one student, I would let him or her fail. But this happens several times in almost every class. Leaving aside this student, I believe that many, if not most, of my students who do not get the book till later in the class are not just liars, but are telling the truth about their various travails.

So my question was, 1) is this common for other teachers who teach for other schools online and 2) how should I handle this.

Regarding question two, I feel that I can either fail the student, which hardly seems fair, or allow the student to make up three weeks of school, which hardly seems fair to the other students who have been participating regularly.

[dept_geek]

This may not help this term, but for next one....

I have done the following, and it works pretty well (except for those students on financial aid who are required to buy the text from the bookstore):

One week or so before classes start, send out an email blast to all registered students. Tell them the class will start in a week, introduce yourself, provide lots of pleasantries about class admin, and provide the book info (complete with title, author, edition, ISBN, publisher, link to publisher's site (so they can see the book cover image), etc). Recommend that they order now if they are not getting the book from the bookstore, or that they head over to the bookstore today or tomorrow to pick up the book. Tell them you want them to do this because you will be starting right away on day one .. blahblah...   (For completely full classes, I also send this message as soon as the class is full, this can be weeks before classes start)

Resend the message on day start - 2, with a message "just wanted to make sure everyone is ready to go."  Be pleasant.

And then back it up. A simple "what is the title of chapter three?" kind of quiz during the first week. Not worth too many points, but enough to send a message.

I teach online quite a bit, 2-year college. I do this every term. It does help.  Because the book is in the library and the students have the ISBN well before class starts, 95% are ready to go. The others weren't planning on passing anyway.

If you are felling generous, you can accept the work late with a penalty. But - take a close look at your own syllabus: do you allow this? Don't make too many exceptions or you will never find a solution.

[jerseyjay]

Thank you, this is useful. I do actually do this for my on-the-ground classes, but for some reasons I have never done this for the online classes. I will do so next term, although, as you said, it doesn't help me for this term.

[daurousseau]

I see this all the time. There are a lot of reasons for students to get their books when the course is half over. Mentioning just a few: the school doesn't get the textbook list posted early, the teacher is late in selecting a text (or finds that their selected text is out of print), students are enrolled at the last minute to make up admissions numbers, the book stores underestimate demand, the publishers underestimate demand, somebody screws up anywhere along the "supply chain," etc.

If one has been around academia a while, one knows the need for a plan B. In fact, plan B should be plan A. E.g. the course can be structured along a series of journal or other readings not gathered in a textbook. Then, if a particular set of books would enhance the course, they can be worked into the mid and later weeks.

One benefit of this approach is it would rule out "textbooks" created by textbooks publishers.

[sueelvins]

I've been reading through the forum and I have to say there's a lot I am digesting at the moment as I'm new to this but at any rate it is slowly sinking in. I will be starting my EdD in March with an emphasis in Organization and Leadership. I hope to locate a position online for instruction afterward. I am currently a freelance web design consultant and I also provide mentoring to small business owners with open source applications.

At any rate, I was doing some searching for my own regarding books and came across a link that I wanted to share as I feel it may be of assistance in your situation.

Here is the link which I am referring to:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Free_Books_-_50_Places_to_Find_Free_Books_Online.html

During my Bachelor of Science in MIS, I had so many text books to deal with but when I had taken my Masters in Business Administration we used e-books which we downloaded and so much easier to manage as I could just leave them on my computer.

Best of luck with finding the right resolution!

Regards,

Sue Elvins

[jackalope]

I used to teach vast numbers of online students at an institution with an incompetent bookstore. I had a three pronged approach 1) put two copies on reserve in the library (you could call the administrative assistant and have him do this), 2) send out the author, title, and ISBN to every student before the semester begins, and 3) scan the first two weeks of readings and put them online at the Blackboard site.

The last might seem too much, but it really eased so many problems. I made it crystal clear that under no circumstances would any more chapters appear on the website so they better get the book ASAP. It may have been copyright violation but there is no way I am going to get caught behind the password wall of BB. And in any case I am still making them buy the book.

Students really appreciated the effort and often mentioned on my evals as an example of my helping students.

[scotia]

Students who are overseas may need notification of the required books several weeks before a course starts if books are available only from the US (experience has taught me that the US and 'International' editions are not always the same). I speak as someone who ordered a book in early December from a US publisher; I am still awaiting its arrival. I am told it is stuck in Customs somewhere.

[high_energy_photons]

Does your textbook have an e-book option?  A growing number of publishers are offering their texts for purchase online as well as for traditional formats.  I have used e-books before, and although they lack the unique joys of real books, they do convey the information well enough.

[zuzu_]

I second jackalope's suggestion.

I scan and post a .pdf file of the first 2-3 weeks reading.

[bcantaire]

Tell them that they should look into half.com, amazon.com, or into an e-book option, if there is one. (I've used coursesmart.com, and quia.com for language books. (Amazon is also offering some books online, now).
My bookstore doesn't have what it should, either, so I buy online like that.
You might also mention that the books are often cheaper online, anyway. Amazon has free shipping, too.
They honestly don't have an excuse, especially two or three weeks into the class. Just make sure they know their options. I only recently discovered coursesmart, etc.