Creating Digital Text – Lessons Learned from a First Time Author Jeffery Huston EdD, AT, FNS Athletic Training Program

My Background! 12th year at Kent State University Athletic Training Program Director Heidelberg University 2003-2007 Assistant Professor of Athletic Training Father of 3 Boys – 11, 8, and 7 Coach Baseball and Soccer in my spare time Wife teaches elementary school Deeply concerned with education and the cost of education Understand the trends in K-12 education

The Problem – Cost and Material for Anatomy and Physiology Students High cost of text Over $400 for a single text Lack of a lab text Results in inconsistent student outcomes across lab sections Inconsistent student outcomes from year to year as TA’s change Student Engagement in Lecture Large lecture hall with difficult material The Problem – Cost and Material for Anatomy and Physiology Students 4/4/2019

Engagement: Top Hat Adopted Top Hat in lectures in the 2014 Course engagement system Originally permitted class presentations and administration of in class questions Evolved over time to now include Text adoptions, Test Administration and the ability to create original course content. Cost of Text: Top Hat and Open Stax Adopted a free Anatomy and Physiology Text from Open Stax The text is incorporated into the Top Hat platform and permits the instructor to edit the text to suit the needs of the course Lab Manual: Top Hat Authoring Write my own lab manual! Solutions – Keeping cost down, students engaged, and outcomes consistent 4/4/2019

The Big Idea Create a standard text and manual to be used in all lab sections Create meaningful pre-lab readings to prepare students for lab Create hands on lab activities Create post lab questions and discussions to link the pre-lab knowledge to the in lab experience Make a text the includes a direct application to students careers 4/4/2019

How it all started I have had this idea for years Another company approached me a few years ago with the idea – but their method seemed odd I considered just self publishing or simply creating a pdf E-mail from Top Hat in early 2018 inviting me to author a lab manual Follow up conversations concerning expectations and deadlines 4/4/2019

The process – it really was simple The contract with Top Hat included deadlines and expectations Deadlines were set around web based meetings (ZOOM) with an instructional design expert The ID expert helped with aspects including: Layout Imbedding Video Finding/citing multimedia Design of course evaluations 4/4/2019

Designing and creating Honestly it was easy! (After giving into working on the Top Hat platform) Initially I did everything on Word and then moved it to the TH platform After I became more comfortable I worked exclusively on the TH platform After consultation with Quintin (my ID expert and the best one they have) we changed to look for single chapters to breaking the chapters up in order to assign different sections at different times. Designing and creating 4/4/2019

Lets Take a Look The finished product

Lessons Learned Instructional Design Creating Content Creating short – visually appealing sections Ensure that your instructions are clear in each section Creating Content The creative commons is your best friend! Learning the differences in copy right is essential - make sure that anything you use is licensed for commercial use and that it is permitted to be modified Differing Assessment Providing different forms of questions is easy with Top Hat – multiple choice, short answer, true false, hot spot The only question format they lack is Essay or Extended Response – for that I used discussion post that are closed to the rest of the class 4/4/2019

More Lessons Learned Asking for help Writing a text is NOT scary! The support that was provided by Top Hat was exceptional – any time I had a question they had an answer or found the answer Writing a text is NOT scary! I always thought it would be something I would never do Digital platforms make the process easy I wrote at home, on the road at conferences, and mostly at my camper I loved it so much I am working on my next text Writing a text on the platform has enhanced my teaching Almost all of my assignments are now Top Hat pages that have several interactive components. 4/4/2019

01 02 03 Future applications Keeping cost down! Delivering content that is ADA compliant 02 Delivering content to students no matter where they are 03 Future applications 4/4/2019

Thank You! Kent.edu