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Introducing the "PEERS Framework": Quality control for book self-publishing |
| Sunday, November 27, 2016 |
Part 1: Updated “PEERS” Framework
Quality Control for Self-Published TEC-VARIETY book
November 2016
Back in May 2014, I self-published a book related to online motivation and retention (see blog post from two years ago). This particular blog post concerns the peer review process (PEERS) that we put the book through. It only took me 2.5 years to finally finding some time to make this post.
It is important to point out that I originally dreamed of this book back in 2000 with my colleague Vanessa Dennen of Florida State University ( Vanessa's blog). It only took 14 years to come to fruition. And my co-author was Dr. Elaine Khoo from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, while Vanessa became one of the book editors.
The book title: is “Adding Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and
Retaining Learners Online.” This book offered a new framework for
online motivation called TEC-VARIETY. Each letter of TEC-VARIETY stands for a set of overlapping motivational
principles. There are 100 activities in the book (10 for each principle of
motivation). Online instructors can learn how to foster curiosity, design a
safe climate for learning, give feedback, foster interaction and collaboration,
nurture student autonomy and creation of products, and much more. The intent is
for higher online learning retention and the development of more self-directed
online learners.
With the 100+ activities, it follows the same format as my Empowering Online Learning book
published by Jossey-Bass back in 2008 with a model called Read, Reflect,
Display, and Do ( R2D2) ( Amazon). This new TEC-VARIETY book has a brand new set of 100+
activities and a focus on learner motivation and retention.
Elaine Khoo and I made this book free as an e-book. We used Amazon CreateSpace as our publisher along with OpenWorldBooks (which I own). AmazonCreateSpace were some of the most wonderful people in the world to work with. They were highly polite and customer service oriented.
To date, over 80,000 people have downloaded
the entire book in English and tens of thousands more have downloaded individual chapters.
Scholars at Beijing Normal University in China have recently translated it to
Chinese (also free as an e-book) and the Open University of China has published
it in print. Anyone can now download, share, and, with permission, translate it
in English or Chinese. By the way, my son Alex produced the book cover.
A common question of self-published books relates to quality. See below for the "Peers framework which I designed and used for this book so as to address quality. Others might find it a handy guide when self-publishing their own books.
Reference: Bonk, C. J., & Khoo, E. (2014). Adding Some
TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online. OpenWorldBooks.com and
Amazon CreateSpace. Note: Free eBook available
at: http://tec-variety.com/
PEERS Framework (for review of a
self-published book):
1.
Peer Review: Three e-learning and educational technology
experts were hired to review the entire book during the summer of 2013 (admittedly,
however, this was not a blind review). The authors made their changes and sent
the revised manuscript to the copyeditor. In addition, the copyeditor also took
on a role of editor throughout the process and made some solid suggestions on
deletions, modifications, combinations, additions, etc.
2.
Extensive Planning and Pilot
Testing: The book 14
years to plan, 7 years to collect articles, and 3 years to write. In addition,
the framework in the book was discussed to large as well as a small audiences at
conferences, workshops, institutes, summits, webinars, university classes,
etc., for more than a decade. Tens of thousands of people attended those talks.
Feedback was received from hundreds, if not thousands, of such people during
that time.
3.
Expert Team Approach: As with all book publishers, we contracted
with many experts to produce a book of the highest quality. We hired editors,
copyeditors, research assistants, website developers, proofreaders, graphic
artists, illustrators, indexers, formatters, converters to other formats (e.g.,
Kindle, hardcover, etc.), computer programmers, book publishers, consultants,
etc. Each were paid a fee (not cheap). We also talked about the process with
several others who had self-published a book in the past.
4.
Relied on Format of Proven Book: Most importantly, the “Adding Some
TEC-VARIETY” book followed the exact same format as the “Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting,
Displaying, and Doing” book which was published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass. In
effect, the format works and was deemed to be high quality by a major
publisher. And unlike many activities book, this is a theory to practice with
not just 100+ activities but with extensive references and theoretical backing.
In addition, this book had the exact same first author as that book who went
through the same process in writing this book. As with the earlier book, he
partnered with an expert to co-author it.
5.
Sharing Samples: Sample chapters were sent to other experts in
the field and other interested scholars, educators, and researchers for the
past three years as were the chapter resources, tools references, and
citations. Everything was shared as much as possible. The feedback that was
received helped us fine tune each chapter.
Part 2: The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing
November 2016
Here is a
list 10 advantages and 10 disadvantages of a free self-published book. See what you think of these items. Please enjoy some TEC-VARIETY.
Advantages of
Self-Publishing:
- Impact: Life impact. The ideas in the book related to teaching and learning can impact others around the world. And perhaps there will be some life impact or personal change from a few of them. There is also the potential for curriculum impact, resource impact, innovation impact, etc.
- Longevity: Longevity of ideas. Someone could find or use or modify this book long after the authors are gone. Digital archivists and educators might stumble upon this book centuries from now.
- Rural and Disadvantaged: A free book helps people in the developing world learn new content. In addition, teachers and course designers can ramp up online and blended course development.
- Control: This IS the big one. The authors can design and change things how they want. Use the book titles and subtitles that they want and the examples that they want. And, yes, 2-3 experts peer reviewed the book just like another publisher (e.g., Jossey-Bass/Wiley) would have done.
- Experiment: It is an experiment. The authors can learn what works. We can practice marketing skills. We can share with others about self-publishing. We can start OpenWorldBooks.com. And we can continue the experiment with the next book.
- Less to Pack: Less guilt when someone has a request or when you visit a country with no gifts. I can always give people this book (or at least the link to download it).
- Fun and Novel Invitations: The authors can trade book royalties for interviews, discussions, invited panels, consultations, and speaking invites.
- Parting or Meeting Gift: It is something the authors can give to students, guests, and visiting scholars. I can send to anyone who visits or calls to interview me on the phone.
- Growing Network: The network of contacts around the world expands.
- Reputation: It brings attention to author reputation or brand and everything else that one does.
Disadvantages of Self-Publishing:
- Personal Time and Effort: This project has been my baby for a long time. And I made it free? This was not just 3 years in the making. I had an IST master’s student collect articles 7 years before completion. And Vanessa Dennen and I discussed a possible book on online motivation 14 years prior.
- Cost: The authors spent much out of pocket money designing and developing this book. Proofreaders, researcher assistant, Web designer and programmer, copy editor, editors, indexer, formatter, graphic designer, publisher, and website costs. It was not insignificant (I’m happy to share the costs via email).
- Potential for Failure and Looking Foolish: It could backfire and no one could find out about the book. If that happens, one could look foolish.
- Perceptions of Self-Published Book: People might think that it is low quality since it is being given away for free. The author reputation could take a hit. Some scholars/academics might look down on someone who self-publishes.
- Piracy and Plagiarism Battles and Legal Fees: People could more easily plagiarize this book. They could copy it, sell it, and post it online. There could be many moles to whack via attorney letters.
- Fairness to Self (i.e., potential for psychological and physical problems): My body could tell me that I am an idiot after expanding so much energy to get this far and not get much in return.
- Fairness to Co-Author: My book writing colleague, Dr. Elaine Khoo, deserves some remuneration.
- Translation Negotiations: The authors have to negotiate book translations rights and contracts, instead of the publisher. Tough decisions have to be made about selling the book in another language or offering only free versions. It takes time to produce a new version of the book.
- Marketing and Dissemination Requirements: The authors have many ways to market the book with organizations that have hundreds of thousands of connections; however, they will lack the connections and networks of a major publisher (e.g., conference exhibits, newsletters, Website promotions, etc.).
- Future Expectations: In the future, how can the authors justify charging a fee for any book that takes less than 14 years to produce?
Labels: Amazon CreateSpace, Elaine Khoo, motivation, PEERS framework, R2D2, retention, self-publishing, TEC-VARIETY, University of Waikato, Vanessa Dennen |
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Introducing Chapter 1 of My New "Adding Some TEC-VARIETY" book |
| Thursday, September 18, 2014 |
Introducing Chapters from the TEC-VARIETY Book One Day at a Time:
Noted: Listed at the bottom of this blog post is a recap of the Bonk book blogging of "Adding Some TEC-VARIETY" so far.
This is Day Two of Blogging ("Chapter One: Introducing TEC-VARIETY")
As I announced back on July 24, 2014 (2 months ago), my new book, written with Dr. Elaine Khoo
from the University of Waikato, was published in May 2014 (though a
prepublication version was posted online 3 months earlier). It is
titled: "Adding Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online."
Three years in the making (actually 15 years), I am delighted to bring it to
you for free! It is open access.
As I mentioned, during
the next few weeks, I will be offering sample paragraphs from the start
of each chapter; one per day so stay tuned my friends. Again, I want to remind
you that the entire book is free as a PDF document at the book homepage and so are each of the 15 chapters.
To date, more than 21,500 people have downloaded the book and over
13,000 have downloaded specific chapters. You can also find a link to
the book from my personal homepage.
This is an experiment in self-publishing. I used Amazon CreateSpace. I also used my book publishing website OpenWorldBooks.com which I forgot that I owned. My amazing son Alex did the book cover. If interested, you can purchase paperback or softcover versions of this book for under $15 USD in Amazon and for the Kindle for under $10 USD via Amazon.
See
below for a opening part of Chapter One Introducing TEC-VARIETY. Elaine and I hope that you
enjoy the book. Below is the section of the book that I am sharing
today. I hope to share a portion of Chapter 2 on Saturday after class and even more of it in the coming days and weeks.
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Chapter One Introducing TEC-VARIETY (Note: this is just the first six paragraphs as another a teaser or tickler).
Do
you want to know who you are?
Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
—Thomas Jefferson
Background
There comes a moment when you just know
the time is ripe to push into an area. Today that area happens to be motivation
and retention in online learning. Some might argue that the need for such a
book was already apparent more than a decade ago. Online learning exploded in
the late 1990s, especially for those in adult sectors like higher education,
corporate training, and the military (Allen & Seaman, 2004, 2007, 2010b,
2014). The K–12 sector, in contrast, heated up much more recently (Picciano & Seaman, 2008; Watson, Murin, Vashaw, Gemin, & Rapp, and colleagues at Evergreen
Education Group, 2010; Watson, 2007). Research conducted at the turn of
the century, including that by Bonk, revealed enormous online drop-out rates.
In higher education settings, it was not unusual to hear about the loss of
20–30 percent of enrolled students (Bonk, 2002a). That percentage would often
double in the world of corporate and military training (Bonk, 2002b; Frankola,
2001a). These data were troubling. What was happening to cause so many
individuals to give up their quest to learn online? And what could be done
about it?
The common refrain was that there was
little engagement within online courses. Students would complete assigned tasks
similar to those given in a correspondence or television course and wait for feedback
or comments from the instructor. For many, there were technical barriers and
problems that surfaced even before they could enter the online course. Once
they surmounted such challenges, they had to figure out what was expected and
when. The directions for all this were often sketchy and assumed a level of
online technology prowess that few had.
Overcoming such issues was not
particularly easy. Making matters worse, all that your technology access got
you was a stamp on your ticket to the online learning club. Then it came time
for completing your assigned tasks and submitting them. Unlike traditional
classrooms, there were often no peers to run ideas by, remind each other of
upcoming tasks, or discuss and debate ideas with. Given that online learning
was so new for everyone involved, there were limited examples of prior work and
minimal job aids for completing tasks. Compounding such problems, most online
content was severely lacking in quality.
For those who persisted with their online
learning quests, there were few learning enticements in those early online
learning days. Online courses typically provided limited goals or products to
strive toward. When there was a goal, there was a highly constrained or unclear
audience for learners’ work. Who would be providing feedback on students’ final
products? Too often, little such feedback came. There was much irony here given
that, unlike in F2F settings, students working in online or blended courses expected
feedback on everything they posted to the Web. This was somewhat of a
revelation for those accustomed to teaching in traditional, walled classrooms.
Those with experience teaching correspondence courses or with tutoring students
might not have been so shell-shocked. But most were not adequately prepared for
this brave new online learning world.
Suffice it to say, without feedback or
comparison points, online students were uncertain of their learning progress.
They were in a state of learning limbo. As Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura
(1986, 1997) might say, there was scant opportunity to develop students’
self-efficacy as online learners. Part of the problem was that there were few
benchmarks to which to compare their performance. And when there was a target,
they were often told that they were lacking in some skill or competency and
could not pass on to the next level. Such gated learning communities with
limited forms of feedback were especially prevalent in military and government
training settings (Bonk, Olson, Wisher, & Orvis, 2002).
Given
this situation, it was no small wonder that there were quite hearty student
drop-out numbers and plenty of other problems in those early years. Of course,
these were just a few of the barriers and challenges facing online learners.
Further fuel for the online retention travesty was the general lack of
instructor and student training for such environments. Add to that, poorly
designed courses, insufficient or inept strategic planning, and constantly
changing demands and expectations, and much could and did go wrong in those
early online courses. Still, the hype bandwagon kept playing the
all-too-familiar songs,...(see free book for more...)
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Note: for the rest of Chapter One and the entire Adding Some TEC-VARIETY book, you can find it FREELY available (and the entire book as well at the book homepage or you can purchase it via Amazon. Comments
and questions are always welcome as are stories and examples of how you
use the ideas in the book (just write to: curt at worldisopen.com).
Bonk book blogging so far:
1. Announcing the Adding Some TEC-VARIETY book, July 24, 2014.
2. Introducing the Preface, September 18, 2014.
Labels: Amazon CreateSpace, motivation, online pedagogy, R2D2, retention, self-publishing, TEC-VARIETY |
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Introducing the Preface to My New "Adding Some TEC-VARIETY" book |
|
Introducing Chapters from the TEC-VARIETY Book One Day at a Time:
As detailed in my most recent blog post back on July 24, 2014 (2 months ago), my new book, written with Dr. Elaine Khoo from the University of Waikato, was published in May 2014 (though a prepublication version was posted online 3 months earlier). It is titled: "Adding Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online." This book project took more than 10 years to plan and 3 years to write. Hence, I am glad it is done. I am even more delighted to bring it to you for free!
During the next few weeks, I will be offering sample paragraphs from the start of each chapter. I will try to do one per day. Again, I want to remind you that the entire book is free as a PDF document at the book homepage and so are each of the 15 chapters. To date, more than 21,500 people have downloaded the book and over 13,000 have downloaded specific chapters. You can also find a link to the book from my personal homepage.
As an experiment, I self-published the book with Amazon CreateSpace. I also used my book publishing website OpenWorldBooks.com which I forgot that I owned. My amazing son Alex did the book cover. If interested, you can purchase paperback or softcover versions of this book for under $15 USD in Amazon and for the Kindle for under $10 USD via Amazon.
See below for a opening part of the Preface. Elaine and I hope that you enjoy the book. Below is the section of the book that I am sharing today. I will share more of it in the coming days and weeks.
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Preface to TEC-VARIETY (Note: this is just the first three paragraphs as a teaser or tickler).
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga ka ngaro te iwi.
Translation: Without foresight or
vision the people will be lost.
—Kingi Tawhiao Potatau te
Wherwhero, demonstrating the urgency
of unification and strong Maori leadership
The Web of Learning
Many ideas and events led to the
development of the TEC-VARIETY framework and the 100+ activities for motivating
and retaining online learners described in this book. Much of it has its roots
in the mid-1980s, long before most educators had ever heard of online learning.
At the time, Bonk was, in fact, a deeply
bored accountant working in a high-technology company. In his spare time, he
enrolled in paper-based correspondence and television courses as well as
outreach and extension courses to qualify for graduate school in educational
psychology at the University of Wisconsin. During these courses, he learned
much content knowledge in education as well as psychology. Perhaps more
important, Bonk gained an appreciation for the multiple modes of educational
delivery as well as the varied ways in which learners could access courses, and
then change or improve their lives. When online learning began taking off a
little over a decade later, he coordinated several national research projects
on the state of e-learning and blended learning in both higher education and
corporate training in the United States. His research soon entered into K–12
and military training settings and then expanded globally.
In each project, many benefits and
challenges regarding online learning were documented. For instance, as with
centuries of correspondence and face-to-face (F2F) courses, most online courses
initially relied on text alone. There was often a cookie-cutter or
one-size-fits-all mentality of the right way to do things and often a favored
instructional design model that would win the day. Such is the history of the
instructional design field. As was soon apparent, however, prescriptive forms
of instruction belonged to the previous world of scant learning resources and
limited selections; they were not applicable to an open learning world housing
vast resources, choices, and opportunities to learn.
Fast-forward to the age of the Web 2.0 in the second
decade of the twenty-first century. We live in a world rich with golden nuggets
of free and open learning content as well as technologies for interacting and
collaborating about this content. Not too surprisingly, relying on
prescriptions and preset paths can lead to boredom and protests. There might
also be contempt for instructors who are unwilling to allow individuals to
learn as they do in more informal settings where they might rely on Twitter feeds,
text messages, online news and reports, mobile applications, Facebook postings,
and shared online video. Today’s learners also want instruction to be ...(see free book for more...)
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Note: for the rest of the Preface and the entire Adding Some TEC-VARIETY book, you can find it FREELY available (and the entire book as well at the book homepage or you can purchase it via Amazon. Comments and questions are always welcome as are stories and examples of how you use the ideas in the book (just write to: curt at worldisopen.com).
Labels: Amazon CreateSpace, free book, motivation, online pedagogy, preface, retention, TEC-VARIETY, The Web of Learning |
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