Cal State System Chooses Milestone Documents to Help Reduce Student Costs

DALLAS, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The California State University (CSU) system has selected Schlager Group's innovative digital classroom resource Milestone Documents for its Affordable Learning Solutions "Rent Digital" campaign for Fall 2013. Affordable Learning Solutions enables faculty to choose quality educational content that is more affordable for their students. Milestone Documents integrates primary documents, robust analyses, a unique textbook layer, and powerful pedagogical support for introductory and advanced courses in history and related disciplines. Access will be discounted for CSU students whose professors adopt Milestone Documents for their courses.

"Milestone Documents reimagines the textbook in a form that's more flexible for professors and less expensive for students, without sacrificing quality," said Neil Schlager, founder and president of Milestone Documents. "Our service mixes content and context in a digital format that allows teachers to have better control over their course structure and materials. The content is constantly expanding, and all of it is curated and guided by subject experts in the various disciplines that we cover—History, American Studies, and Religious Studies. We are thrilled to participate in the CSU program, which we think will serve as a model for other university systems around the country as they work to provide lower-cost, more-convenient course materials for their students."

Milestone Documents offers two editions for adopting professors. The Standard Edition includes a foundation of more than 1,300 key primary sources, accompanied by comprehensive analyses written by a global network of scholars. Each content area is led by an Editor in Chief -- a scholar and educator who curates the document coverage and oversees the development of pedagogical materials such as model outlines, recommended documents, lecture notes, and assessments.

The Premium Edition, which was unveiled at the American Historical Association conference in January, includes an optional textbook layer of peer-reviewed narrative articles for introductory and survey courses in U.S. history, world history, and Western civilization. The textbook layer aligns with model outlines created by the Editor in Chief for each subject area.

Both editions have the hallmark Milestone Documents features. These include the ability for professors to customize their class readings list and to change it at any time. In addition, the service offers student analytics that help professors understand how students are progressing through the assigned readings and which students are the most active and engaged at the site. Students can highlight, take notes, and star their favorite readings.

Among the Editors in Chief are Philip DiMare (California State University–Sacramento), Jonathan Rees (Colorado State University–Pueblo), Karen Linkletter (California State University–Fullerton), Joseph Stuart (University of Mary), Eric Cunningham (Gonzaga University), and Claudrena Harold (University of Virginia). Materials development is ongoing, and content will continually grow with new curated documents, textbook articles, and instructor support materials. Additional courses and Editors in Chief will be added in such areas as Asian history, Middle Eastern history, women's history, Latin American history, and American Southwest history.

While Milestone Documents has captured attention for its low student cost, its loyal following among educators has been sustained by its authoritative content, easy customization, and simple navigation. Philip DiMare of Cal State Sacramento, who serves as Editor in Chief of both U.S. History I and Comparative Religions, said he was initially drawn to the service for its "incredible range and depth" of primary source coverage but was excited to see it expand into a full-service option for instructors. "I'm thrilled to be a part of what I think is one of the most forward-thinking educational tools on the market."

To learn more visit http://www.milestonedocuments.com/evaluation.

About Milestone Documents

Milestone Documents is a digital classroom resource for college history instructors built around primary sources. Its extensive collection of documents is curated by subject experts in U.S. and world history and is accompanied by in-depth commentary from a team of 300 scholars. In addition, its innovative "textbook layer" of peer-reviewed narrative articles makes Milestone Documents a highly affordable alternative to the traditional textbook. By placing primary sources at the heart of the classroom experience, Milestone Documents combines forward-thinking history pedagogy with unparalleled flexibility for instructors. It is accessible via the Web, the iPad, and any smart phone.

Milestone Documents is a service of Dallas-based Schlager Group.

Media contact: Beth Dempsey, for Milestone Documents

[email protected] or 248.349.7810

SOURCE Schlager Group