Milestone Documents Expands to Provide New Content

03/04/14

Milestone Documents is expanding the courses it can serve as an innovative, affordable, digital alternative to traditional textbooks and document readers. The resource now includes a rich set of key documents in Chinese, African American, and Comparative Religious history, supported with Milestone Documents’ hallmark analyses created by a global network of university scholars. Each area is accessible via Milestone Documents’ streaming platform at a remarkably low cost to students: $19.95 for a full semester of unlimited access.

Each content area is led by an Editor in Chief, a scholar and educator who curates the document coverage and oversees the development of instructor materials such as model outlines, recommended documents, lecture notes, and assessments. Modern Chinese History is directed by Lisa Tran, California State University–Fullerton; Comparative Religions is supervised by Robert Platzner, California State University–Sacramento; and Claudrena Harold, University of Virginia, guides the content development for African American History.

“We’re eager to provide more educators with the ability to teach their course, rather than a course directed by a textbook,” said Neil Schlager, founder and president of Milestone Documents. “That means partnering with faculty to ensure we have the best content and best educator experience while aggressively expanding the kinds of courses Milestone Documents can support.”

Milestone Documents launched its rich, Web-based service in 2010, building a loyal and growing following among educators looking for a classroom resource that is affordable and flexible but still offers sound pedagogy. Although the service was originally designed to be a document reader, faculty began adopting Milestones Documents as a textbook alternative in history and such related disciplines as American studies. The company responded by expanding its base of primary documents and adding peer-reviewed textbook layers and pedagogical support materials for core history survey courses—content built in collaboration with a large pool of scholarly contributors, including many of its adopting faculty. Milestone Documents has earned fans among faculty for its easy customization. Any document or article in the collection can be assigned to a class, and reading assignments can be changed at any time, allowing faculty to create custom, fluid classroom materials. Students value the quality content, straightforward site navigation, low price, and modern access—available via any computer, tablet, or smart phone.

“Milestone Documents allows me to teach more efficiently,” said Jonathan Rees, Professor of History at Colorado State University–Pueblo and author of the popular blog More or Less Bunk. “Picking the documents on subjects I cover already allows me to align what students read with what I teach.”

Embraced by the Affordable Learning Solutions initiative at the California State University System, Milestone Documents currently includes 1,600 primary documents, along with supporting commentary and analyses. Textbook layers are available for survey courses in U.S. History, World History, and Western Civilization, while document collections cover those core survey courses along with American Studies, African American History, Modern Chinese History, and Comparative Religions. New document collections are currently in development for Middle East History (directed by Camron Amin, University of Michigan–Dearborn), the Ancient Near East (Mark Chavalas, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse), Latin American History (Kevin Chambers, Gonzaga University), and History of Korea and Japan (Eric Cunningham, Gonzaga University). Free evaluation trials are available to interested faculty at www.MilestoneDocuments.com/evaluation.

About Milestone Documents

Milestone Documents is an online streaming service used for courses in history and related disciplines. Combining the most significant primary documents of all time with award-winning analyses, textbook articles, and pedagogical support, Milestone Documents is an innovative, intuitive, and low-cost alternative to the standard textbook model. It is designed for easy customization by faculty and is accessible via any computer, tablet, or smart phone. Milestone Documents is a division of Schlager Group Inc.

Media contact:
Beth Dempsey
for Milestone Documents
beth@bethdempsey.com
248.349.7810

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