Publications
Web Books, eBooks, Online Decision Makers Tools
As client needs arise, we organize our consulting content into more easily accessed digital formats. Here are a few examples of the most frequently used digital content we’ve published as websites, web pages, or ebooks.
- FutureU's Student Web Book: Make the Most of Learning Online
FutureU’s Student Web Book prepares the adult learner for a successful experience in any academic course that is delivered partly or completely over the Web.
It may be used as a self-paced tutorial or as the text for an introductory group learning experience lasting two to four weeks or more, depending on the instructor’s needs.
Learn more . . .
- FutureU's Faculty Web Book: Make the Most of Teaching Online
FutureU’s Faculty Web Book is your guide to the unique environment of the online classroom, the special skills and insights that every instructor should pass on to students, and the complex set of steps involved in designing, developing, and implementing the online component of any course, whether or not you also meet face to face.
Faculty Web Book Table of Contents
Learn more . . .
- Building Your Course Online: The Bargain Hunter's Guide
Everything you need for building a terrific course Web site is available free or for a few dollars on the Internet.
Learn how to build your own course website—at home, at your own pace, at any time of day, without spending a bundle.
The Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Building Your Course Website by Claude Whitmyer and Gail Terry Grimes (FutureU Press, 2011).
Learn more . . .
Download a PDF copy of this ebook:
The Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Building Your Course Website (87 downloads )
- Herding Cats Through The Gates To Cyberspace
Change consultants and other organizational development professionals who anticipate a swift, easy introduction of learning or communication technology to the working environment may be in for a rude awakening.
Without appropriate facilitation, any virtual communication or learning initiative may flounder along with the intervention it was intended to support.
In the mid-1990s, organizational clients started asking us to help them facilitate the introduction of technology mediation to their communications and learning activities. From those assignments has come a set of principles for successfully introducing any virtual communications and learning toolset to a large group.
In this ebook, we describe those principles, their application in various settings, the challenges that invariably arise, a range of proven solutions and insights, and the promise inherent in this next phase of human interaction.
Herding Cats Through the Gates of Cyberspace: The Process of Introducing Virtual Collaboration and Learning Technology As a Tool For Large-Group Interventions
By Gail Terry Grimes and Claude Whitmyer. (FutureU Press, 2011)
Download a PDF copy of this ebook:
Herding Cats Through the Gates of Cyberspace (107 downloads )
- Comparative Features Analysis of Leading Course Management Software
(In 2000, when this report was first published, the software category known today as “learning management software” was then called “course management software.”)
This report compares six of the leading course management software packages as of January 1, 2000. Since that time the products we reviewed have been acquired and retired or undergone considerable enhancement or name changes. However, thousands of people visit our website every year to look at this historic data and to gain inspiration from our methodology. This is the same methodology we incorporated into the Decision Makers Planning Tool for choosing any kind of software. You’ll see it applied in some of the publications listed on this page, including:
- Choosing Course Management Software (this is the original Decision Makers Planning Tool).
- Comparative Features Analysis of Leading Collaboration Tools.
- Open Source Collaboration Software.
Learn more . . .
Download the report: Course Management Software-2000 Report (47 downloads )
- Choosing Course Management Software
“Choosing Course Management Software” was first introduced at a series of workshops sponsored by the California Virtual Campus, a state-sponsored coalition of 107 community colleges.
From this beginning, it has evolved into a Web-based Decision Makers’ Planning Tool.
No matter where you are in the process:
- Just starting to plan for technology-enriched education.
- Starting to shop for or already using Web-course management software.
- Thinking about adding a second or third software option to your campus.
- Well established with one or more software products but eager to enhance your overall project’s success.
FutureU’s Choosing Course Management Software can help.
Learn more . . .
- Comparative Features Analysis of Leading Collaboration Software
This report compares six of the leading collaborative software packages on the market in 2003.
Obviously, the data is outdated. This is another example of the application of our successful Decision Makers Planning Tool for choosing any software.
Learn more . . .
Download a PDF version of this report:
- Open Source Collaboration Software
The search for the best software for virtual collaboration and distance learning is ongoing. One promising direction is “open source” software. (See https://opensource.org/osd/ for an official definition.)
In the fall of 2004, FutureU co-founder Claude Whitmyer undertook to identify and test the most promising open-source products of that time with the help of FutureU client colleagues who were also information technology experts. This report details the findings.
Obviously, the data is outdated, but this is another example of the application of our successful Decision Makers Planning Tool for choosing any software.
Learn more . . .
Download a PDF version of this report:
Open Source Collaboration Software—Ready for Prime Time? (81 downloads )
- Creating Online Library Access
FutureU’s Library Web Tool is a detailed guide for school administrators and librarians who want to introduce or expand online library access to their constituency.
Learn more . . .
