Academic Author Publication Grants

Dr. King Awarded $750 TAA Publication Grant

Dr. Kathleen P. King, a professor of education at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education in New York City, has been awarded a $750 TAA Publication Grant for expenses incurred in researching her co-edited book, The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology: Leveraging Digital Media, Web 2.0 and More for Learning, which will be published by Information Age Publishing, Inc. in July 2010.

“This grant is not only a surprise and tremendous monetary help, it is extremely validating as well,” said King. “I am very grateful on each account. In the past, some of my books have been based on funded research or were less intensive in the editing process. However, this book has turned into a large project because we have a unique, very valuable contribution to the literature as our goal. From all of the TAA members, thank you for your forward thinking in providing a potential source of funding for us to pursue special projects that we might not be able to otherwise.”

The entire grant will be used to defray a good part of the costs King personally incurred in the book’s development, including research assistant searches, transcripts and copy editing assistance.

How You Can Apply for a TAA Publication Grant: Download a PDF form and mail to: TAA Executive Director Richard Hull, 3241 Heather Hill Lane, Tallahassee, FL 32309-2307. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2010. (You must be a member of TAA; however, according to Dr. King it is well worth the low cost and great benefits)

“There are many aspects to writing and editing an edited volume that are labor intensive,” she said. “I am writing three chapters in the book and had to upgrade all of my literature reviews and background knowledge across these digital media chapters because the field continues to advance so rapidly. In addition, I serve as the more technical sounding board editor for the other chapter authors. My research assistant has been indispensable in conducting searches, providing articles, and retrieving specific articles I needed. We also assign him the task of ‘reconciling’ the references and citations in order that we as editors can focus more on content. I also did some original research for one chapter and this money helps pay part of the transcription costs.”

Innovative Text

King and her co-editor, Dr. Thomas Cox,  have brought together several leading researcher-practitioners to author the book, and because so much effort is spent on developing a consistent focus, tone, and voice for the book, hiring a copy editor has helped with the final proofreading details.

“Moreover the volume is not written as traditional academic research writing; we really want it less technical and more accessible and practice oriented so that faculty may easily read and apply the information,” she said. “This change in writing style and presentation was difficult for many of the authors because we have all developed ingrained habits. This has resulted in labor intensive revisions of chapter manuscripts. Our copy editor is reasonably priced and works very collaboratively. Still, there have been many more hours than usual of proofing all this work after we have done heavy edits, and authors have proofed and edited their chapters. We have needed that other set of eyes to make sure the volume ‘flows.’”

About the Book

The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology is geared to support and guide higher education faculty looking for ways to use digital media as a tool in adapting their current teaching or in creating future courses. “It is written by faculty for faculty and we have brought together many experts across different disciplines to specifically speak about how and why to use digital media within higher education settings,” she said. “We realize we are asking professors to rethink their way of teaching, so we present clear images of what it looks like, why to bother and how to get there.” Each chapter includes examples of classroom applications, activities for faculty to do or to do with their learners, and many resources to learn more about digital media or how to access the things they need to use it.

“We expect this book will be a valuable professional development tool for faculty across disciplines as well as be helpful for higher education administration, instructional designers, instructional technologists and distance learning support staff in understanding faculty needs and application,” said King. “In addition it could be used as a supplemental textbook in curriculum development and design courses, and an introductory or intermediate book for learning to incorporate digital media in their teaching whether online or face-to-face.”

About Dr. King

King is a popular international keynote speaker, professor of education at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education in New York City, and president of Transformation Education, LLC. She also serves clients as a certified professional life coach. Her major areas of research include distance learning, digital media, transformative learning, professional development, and instructional technology. She is an award-winning author of 17 books and over 130 published articles and research papers. Her books and web-based audio materials are used as course materials in universities worldwide and have a large following. She has led the development of many local and global innovative educational projects reaching over 6.4 million learners through technology. She has an EdD and MEd in Higher & Adult Education from Widener University, an MA in Theology, and a BA from Brown University. Providence, RI.

About the TAA Publication Grant Opportunity

TAA members can apply for publication grants of up to $750 to cover expenses incurred in publishing already accepted print academic journal and book and textbooks including academic journal page costs or university press subventions; the cost of preparing artwork or other charts, diagrams, or images to be included in accepted journal articles or academic books or textbooks; and journal reprint costs. Grants are also available for expenses incurred as a direct result of research leading to publication of a book or article, including:

• Interlibrary loan costs, or computer time costs incurred in the analysis of data, leading to publication of academic print materials.
• Costs of single photocopies of source materials for research related to the publication of an article or book.
• Costs of secretarial (copying and/or delivery) services incurred in the preparation of academic print materials.
• Cost of permissions incurred in the preparation of academic print materials for reprinting images, quoted material.

TAA has up to $4,000 available for making TAA Publication Grants in 2009-2010. Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

The deadline for applications is May 1, 2010.