College
textbook formats and how students acquire their reading materials have changed
considerably in the past decade, as the report Mapping the Learning Content Ecosystem has documented. What these changes mean and how they affect the
foreseeable future for faculty, students, publishers, and sellers of content
will be explored at Campus Market Expo 2016 (CAMEX), March 4-8 in Houston, TX.
ConTEXT, a mini-conference within CAMEX focusing on textbooks and technology, will take a look at new
strategies and best practices, from digital formats and open educational resources
to adaptive learning products and text-with-tuition models. Speakers will
include Andy Hines, assistant professor and coordinator of the Foresight
Program at the University of Houston, who will discuss how to make sense of the
shifting course materials landscape.
“Thinking
about students, how will the changes in their lives and needs influence higher
education and approaches to learning?” Hines wrote in a recent article for The College Store magazine. “These
changes may ultimately redefine the notion of what a course material is, as
coursework spills over into work, play, relationships, and even participation
in civic life.”
The ConTEXT
track will feature 15 educational sessions related to course materials. The
ConTEXT educational program is underwritten by the NACS Foundation, with
support from Follett.
In
addition, two showcases—custom/digital content solutions on March 4 and
adaptive learning products on March 5—will give an overview of new products and
services for academic content and how they benefit students and faculty. Among the participating suppliers are LAD Custom Publishing,
RedShelf, XanEdu, Cengage Learning, Elsevier-Health Sciences, Pearson
Education, and Wiley.
CAMEX
attendees will also be able to learn more at the ConTEXT Pavilion during the
trade show (March 6-8). Most of the exhibiting companies involved in course
content and materials will be located in the vicinity of the pavilion and many
will be demonstrating products in the ConTEXT Presentation Theater.
