Open Ended Digital Books: The Wave of the Future?

As technology continues to improve, instructors at all levels look for ways to integrate that technology into their lessons.

Recently, California State University, Long Beach professors Oliver Wang and Scott Wilson had the opportunity work with a new platform being developed by the USC Institute for Multimedia Literacy.

Known as Scalar, this program allows authors to engage readers by using different types of visual media, which is incorporated into different elements in the text.

“There are two ways of telling stories, and Scalar falls more along the path of a non-linear narrative,” said Wilson. “It is a platform that will appeal to and engage digital natives.”

Wilson is currently working on a ‘book’ about the Century Villages at Cabrillo, which is a residential community established in 1997 to aid the homeless.

Wilson, who works in the department of Anthropology, chose the CVC because they are an organization that provide a number of services to help get homeless people and their families back on their feet, including life skills training, substance abuse counseling, and a homeless education program.

“This is something that is taking place right in our backyard and a lot of people are unaware that it even exists,” he said.

Wang, on the other hand, has always been fascinated with music, particularly Filipino American mobile DJ crews in the San Francisco Bay Area. His ‘book’ acts as an interactive history of this sub culture, complete with pop up maps, and both visual and audio archives.

“I wanted to figure out a way to share my research,” Wang said. “My main motivation in compiling this work is sharing it with the people who are the subjects.”

Wang adds that Scalar is very user friendly and merges different types of media well.

“You as the author create the world,” he said. “The chapters, which are called narrative stands, allow everything to stay organized and work really well together.”

Wang, whose book, “Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile Disc Jockeys Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area” is scheduled to be released next year, uses Scalar to compliment the book.

“What I really enjoy about the platform is that it allows me to share parts of my book before it’s done,” he said. “It lets readers see and hear what I am writing about in a digital setting.”

Scalar will also let authors like Wang continue to add content to their project, even after his book is published.

Although there are many things that you can do with Scalar, the platform is still in its infancy stages and not yet available to the public.

Still, Wilson sees the possibilities. “This has the potential to be a game-changer.”

CCPE Offers Many Advancement Opportunities

Tucked away inside the CSULB Foundation, the College of Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE) provides students, working professionals, and the rest of the CSULB community the opportunity to experience everything that the university has to offer without being actually enrolled in an undergraduate program.

Formerly known as University Extension Services and University College and Extension Services, the CCPE serves as the academic outreach arm for the entire university.

“We serve non traditional student populations,” associate dean Eric Bullard said. “In addition to degree programs, we offer certificates and non credit seminars.”

Bullard is new to the CSULB family, having previously served as associate dean of Extended Learning at California State University, San Marcos.

Although it is one of the eight colleges on campus, the CCPE is unique in that it is fully self supported and receives no money from the state of California.

“We’re really leveraging the resources of the campus, which is why the pricing structure is different,” Bullard said. “There’s no state subsidy coming in to offset the cost the educational activity.”

The CCPE’s corporate education and training unit goes out to businesses and works with both the business industry and government to help them with whatever training needs they may have.

“We conduct an assessment on-site to see what they (the company) need,” Bullard said. “It could be supervisor skills training, or they may need a full degree program for senior level administrators.”

For students who have been academically disqualified, the college offers the opportunity to boost their grade point average and earn credit toward their degree through Open University.

 “It (Open University) gives academically disqualified students a mechanism to demonstrate that they can bring their g.p.a. back up to a level that would reinstate them” Bullard said.

            Although it would be less expensive to take some of those classes off campus at a community college, Bullard believes there’s value in staying within the Beach community.

“It helps students focus in on their ultimate goal,” he said. “If you’re on campus with the colleagues that you started attending this college with, I think that there’s a higher likelihood that you’re going to finish.”

Open University is a system wide (CSU) program that was originally intended to provide access to community members that wanted to take classes.

“Often times what we find is that this is a good point of entry for students that may be thinking of starting a degree program at the university,” Bullard said.

He estimates that 75 percent of students who take classes through Open University will end up matriculating at CSULB.

The CCPE continues to look for ways to extend its reach and offer the most amount of students access to the university’s programs.

“This year, we launched engineering degree programs in Antelope Valley in partnership with the college of engineering,” Bullard said. “We’re taking the resources of the institution and serving underserved populations in remote areas.”

Bullard believes there are a number of ways to serve those populations, including via online and distance learning, which the CCPE is trying to do more of.