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Courses >
Courses for Teaching Professionals > Big Ideas in Little Books
 Do you have an idea for an instructional aid? The instructor--a former K-12 teacher who is also the author and developer of over 50 products for the educational market, will help you develop instructional aids that align with standards important to your district.
This exciting program will show you how how to create and self-publish work books, lab manuals, booklets, activity kits, visual aids, manipulatives, and other powerful instructional aids. You'll also learn how to profit from your ideas by offering the products you develop for sale through catalogs, stores, and trade shows.
This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Michael McMillan.
 After graduating from Western Michigan University with degrees in chemistry and mathematics, Mike McMillan was employed as an inner-city public school teacher for more than fourteen years. While teaching, he developed a number of supplemental instructional materials that found their way into the catalogs of many educational product distributors. Since 1989, Mike has worked full time developing a wide variety of student activity kits, instructional videos, supplemental work books, lab manuals, and study guides for the K-12 education market. Mike has been interviewed on some of the nation's largest radio stations and television programs, including ABC World News. In addition to his online courses, Mike does over 80 live seminars related to self-publishing each year.
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Requirements:
Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).
Syllabus:
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
In our first lesson, we'll talk about the types of instructional aids you might consider developing. But more than that, I'll show you specific examples of actual aids I've developed and marketed in each category: printed book(lets), manipulatives, student activity kits, and more. Then, I'll introduce you to the power of the print-on-demand technology, a technology that allows you to produce book(lets) of the same quality and appearance as the books you find in book stores—and in only classroom quantities! It's a "wow" moment that will get you excited about the possibilities awaiting you.
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| Friday - Lesson 02 |
Is there a secret that will virtually guarantee your success in developing a winning instructional aid—one that increases student performance, the learning underlying that performance, and the probability it can be marketed successfully? You bet there is—it's called reverse engineering and it's the most exciting, most powerful concept in this course. In this lesson, we'll incorporate a fusion of reverse engineering with a 10-part developmental platform to help you align your product design with student performance standards.
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| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
I hear you saying, "But Mike, can I really compete with the major educational publishers?" My answer will surprise you: the question isn't whether you can compete with them, but whether they can compete with you! You'll find that they can't. The future of educational publishing lies not with the major publishers, but with individual teachers—teachers just like you! I'll show you step by step how to market the instructional aid you develop through huge educational product distributors. I'll do something for you that your district can't: I'll show you how to profit financially from your great ideas!
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| Friday - Lesson 04 |
In this lesson, we'll take an in-depth look at the heart of designing printed instructional aids. From page layout, to nonvolatile student response materials, to my 20-part checklist for organizing the development of your product—we'll get you on the fast track to success in a hurry.
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| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
Today we'll explore student activity kits. I'll give you a developmental platform to organize your progress, and then we'll move on to covering safety issues, locating the components you need, and developing a bill of materials. Then we'll look at specific examples of student activity kits that I've developed and how you can build off of my ideas.
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| Friday - Lesson 06 |
The fun is just beginning! Manipulatives, models, and games—these are the topics today. There are benefits of turning your idea for a printed instructional aid into one of these products, too. These types of instructional aids can boost your profits if you plan on marketing your product, and they'll give students a hands-on aspect to their learning. Let's not forget—these products are just plain fun for kids to use!
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| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
Break out the director's chair—today we'll talk about developing video instructional products. "But Mike, I just want to develop a simple instructional booklet." Good for you, and that's exactly how I felt with my first few products. But in today's lesson, you'll learn exactly how I created over a dozen network-quality video learning products without spending a dime to do it. You'll learn how to develop quality video instructional aids using state of the art technologies, and do it for pennies. We'll discuss the development of a video aid I developed which turned into a product that now sells for over $1,000 in dozens of catalogs of the largest educational product developers around the world!
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| Friday - Lesson 08 |
In this lesson, I'll fully explain the education market and how to get your product into that market. How can you sell you product yourself? How can you get huge educational distributors to carry your product in their catalogs? When is the best time to promote your product? Who do you need to contact with your product? I'll answer all these questions and more today.
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| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
Today we'll talk about the secret tools of the trade that self-published authors know about that help assure their success. I'll give you contacts for marketing your product, as well as tips for software to make your job easier.
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| Friday - Lesson 10 |
In this lesson, we'll address the question of standards, student performance, and the instructional aids you develop. We'll look at not only increasing specific student performances, but also at improving the actual learning underlying that performance.
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| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
To boldly go where no one has gone before. Sounds like the opening line from a Star Trek movie, but this is exactly what this lesson is about. I not only want you to develop a winning product, I want you to promote that fact to your community. I want them to realize that you have done something special. So today, we'll look at how you can use the media—print, radio, and television—to promote what you've done to your community and beyond. I'll show you exactly how I've used these techniques to book author interviews for many of my own books on over 100 radio stations and television programs, like ABC's World News. I'll give you contacts, techniques, and tips on how you can do the same. I want to make you famous!
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| Friday - Lesson 12 |
In our last lesson, you'll find out how to incorporate what you've learned to help others in your own building. We'll discuss an infrastructure you can develop that will involve your peers in developing instructional aids, too! You'll become the focal point for reality-based change within your district!
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To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Student Reviews:
"A great 'how to course.' Gave me the information I needed to get several simmering ideas off the ground. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in getting their work published. Cudos!"
"Awesome course! I feel as though the information presented in this course was what I've been searching for in books, websites and seminars, but have not found so clearly expressed and concise."
"I have to say that this is one of the best classes I have ever taken! It really has got the wheels turning in my head. I'm so excited about getting started on my book and activity kit ideas! Thank you so much for all that you have taught me!"
"Much of the publishing and marketing information was new. Mike was very thorough and definitely set the wheels turning about this process leading to profitable results as well as meeting student needs. I am determined by Mike's positive outlook and success to follow through on several ideas I've set aside for far too long. This is my second online course completed with your program and I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience."
"This class provided the detail needed to understand the material, and to encourage my individual growth as a teacher. I look forward to implementing the ideas that I have generated while taking the class, and would highly recommend it to anyone considering creating their own educational materials. The instructor was thoughtful, creative and responsive to all questions and truly supportive of the developmental process. I also feel the course material will provide me with excellent reference material in the future."
"This course was very interesting and fun. I learned new information in Education Administration, standards and policies, and it complemented my knowledge in educational aids design. It helped me to find new ways to make my big ideas a reality and to use them to improve students’ learning process. I'm grateful for having the opportunity to study this course on-line, at my pace and with enough time to complete it."
"This was an excellent course about creating supplemental educational materials. I enjoyed looking at the various options that one could consider. The instructor was very motivating and made me feel that I could really reach the goal of creating my own products."
"What a fantastic class!!! Very informative, detailed, practical, fun!!! Exactly what I needed to start publishing. Thank you, Prof. Mike McMillan!"
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
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