Book Sprints for B.A. course scripts
We just concluded a Book Sprint in the alpine town of Bad Reichenhall, in the border of Germany and Austria. It was here, at IUBH International University of Applied Sciences, that 6 authors got together during 5 days to write a script for an online course for the first bachelor program in the country on the subject of New Work.
Happy authors at the end of the Book Sprint! Photo credits / Karina Piersig
New Work is a term coined by the Austro-American social philosopher Frithjof Bergmann. New Work would be a response to today’s consequences of globalization and digitalization and what they imprint on the working world. In that sense, the New Work concept describes the new ways of working in the global and digital age we experience today. Frithjof Bergmann based his research on the notion of freedom and the assumption that the previous working frameworks are somewhat outdated and need revision, for the sake of efficiency, productivity and well being of workers.
Every Book Sprint is a different experience, as much as we are prepared to anticipate any possible scenario. This was, nonetheless, even more so because it was our first time applying the Book Sprint method to produce an online course script. Considering the specificities of this type of text and the need to maintain coherence with IUBH’s style, 4 editors joined this Book Sprint. They started revising the content as soon as the first chapter was finished to guarantee the best use of time, and that the content and voice were right on point.
The organizer from IUBH, Regina Frey-Cordes, explained to us:
All of us were very impressed with the results of the five days. We built a cohesive team and just crushed our targeted number of words by 175%. It was a fantastic, albeit intense, experience!
With her expertise as an educational designer, our facilitator Karina initially guided the focus of the group towards the target learner of the online course. Personas were sketched that covered the learning motivation, knowledge levels and learning needs of the potential students. With regard to these personas, the group set the overall learning objectives for the course. This is an important tool for defining what the intended outcome of a course is. In a second step, she guided the group through a process of collecting, clustering and structuring content that leads to that specific learning outcome. This process helps to structure the course content around the learning needs of the target group and eventually write a script that is meaningful and appropriate for those subribing to the New Work Study programm.
Photo credits / Juliana Secchi
Photo credits / Juliana Secchi
We are pleased with this academic partnership and with the result of this Book Sprint. We are ready and looking forward to diversifying our repertoire of Book Sprints and clients!