I would like to echo what Michael has said. I appreciate that it can be frustrating when you come to a website and you run into a "$60 paywall". But please trust us that we in the TBLC are not trying to enrich ourselves, we are only trying to survive as an organization.
The $60 dues help pay not only for administrative support, they also provide support of our annual meeting, business expenses such as mail and fedexing of supplies, a presence at conferences such as the AAMC and IAMSE, brochures and A-E cards for workshop leaders, teleconference support for our many committee meetings, and a variety of other uses.
We do not get support from any university or other organization for the TBLC. Like Michael said, many of us have spent a considerable amount of our own time and money contributing to the organization. We are not trying to make a profit. We are anxious for the organization to be valuable to its members, and are working hard so that it may be that way. We debate every decision regarding what to keep inside and outside the "paywall," so we are sensitive to your feedback. I hope you can appreciate our perspective as well.
Yours truly,
Ruth E. Levine
President, TBLC
________________________________________
From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sweet, Michael S [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 5:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: TBLC Website update
Bill,
I completely understand your perspective and we're going to run into this response more and more as we expand into the Social Sciences and Humanities. Money just doesn't come into the conversation among teachers there nearly as often as it does in professional schools.
I don't like mixing money and education either, but the simple fact is that an organization of this size and scope needs some form of financial support. To date, a great deal of what have done has come out of the personal pockets of those of us most deeply committed to the Collaborative. Over the years, there have been one or two dozen folks who have donated tremendous amounts of their own money to put on the conference, run the website, etc.. As we have grown as an organization, we now have a part-time organizational administrator in Julie Hewitt.
Your incentive question is a good one, and that's why on July 1, Ruth will take up the role of the TBLC's inaugural Executive Editor, bringing the process and materials up to a level of quality that can count as worthy of putting on a vita. This is the model used in Medical Education (MedEdPortal) and it has been successful. In fact, most organizations require membership before one can even join their listserv, which is something we have decided to keep open and free.
-M
________________________________________
From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bill Goffe [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2011 4:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: TBLC Website update
On http://www.teambasedlearning.org/benefits it says
Premium TBLC Member Only Content
Modules
SoTL Resources
Workshop Materials
I'm thinking that the last three should be indented.
That said, it is rare (unknown?) in higher ed to have to pay for
instructional materials developed by other instructors. One example that
comes to mind is "Project Galileo" https://galileo.harvard.edu/login/ (I
should add that there is far more empirical work that these techniques
work than does TBL). Another example is the "International Journal for
SoTL" http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v5n1.html which is also
freely available. A third is Merlot http://www.merlot.org (ditto on
material being freely available).
Why would I want to contribute material for other instructors that is
hidden behind a $60 paywall? I suspect that I'm missing something, but I'd
much rather have my material freely available for anyone to use. Obviously
we can now do that with the Internet. More broadly, I'd argue that such a
paywall will hinder TBL.
Finally, $60 is nearly what I pay for annual membership in my main
academic organization, the American Economic Association. The "premium
benefits" listed here sound much more like a commercial venture. The
number of links on the main page that require a login (and TBLC
membership, I presume) is disheartening.
- Bill
Jim said:
> Hi Everyone
>
> I have completed the TBLC website update and merged the tbl.org site with
> the tblc site
>
> Please let me know anything that doesn't work as expected....or if your
> favourite resources has gone missing
>
> I am away for the next while....but will fix anything you point out when I
> return
>
> All the best. jim
--
Bill Goffe
Department of Economics
SUNY Oswego, 416 Mahar Hall
Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-3444(v), 315-312-5444(f)
[log in to unmask]
http://cook.rfe.org
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