DVD curriculum

[wise146]

---

Members do not see this ad.

For the people attending schools with the DVD curriculum (Buffalo as an example), what do you think? do you save money on books. is ok to study from. does it get stolen etc. please post any thoughts on this......

 

[ItsGavinC]

We use the VitalSource curriculum, but unlike other schools, we have the texts loaded directly onto our computers, so there is no DVD to fool around with.

It still costs a big chunk of change to license every year (around $1800 for us), but we have well over 110 texts in our bookshelf right now, so I suppose that's worth it. The downside, of course, is that I probably won't ever even open 1/3 of those texts, much less spend hours pouring over them in study.

I've found it just fine to study from, and my school lets me print out thousands of pages for free on the multiple laser printers they have, so I've printed certain sections every now and then. Mostly I've printed out review series books and studied from them, using the other texts in the electronic bookshelf to supplement my studies.

For what it's worth, my school is the ONLY school that uses ALL of the Vital Source technologies, meaning, we use: Vital Key (the electronic bookshelf with texts), Vital Square (class/instructor message boards), Vital Quiz (the testing format), Vital Case (our PBL-case program) and on and on and on.

PM me if you have more questions. I don't want to post more here than you've asked for.

To sum: I have no problems with the electronic text format. I don't read a whole lot anyways, and I think most of my student colleagues can agree that just because a teacher assigns an entire textbook for reading does NOT mean you even have to crack the book. It depends on the syllabus, notes, powerpoints, etc., that are offered by the instructor.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

I love mine. Mine is also installed on the computer so no DVD to mess around with

Makes it much easier to haul around one laptop then 10 books!!!

We have 130+ books but I've only used around 15 so far. Most of the books are for later classes and years.

 

[savvysearch]

DVD seems like an awful idea. Id hate to be carrying around that DVD like it was a fragile snowflake, knowing how vulnerable those things are to scratches, being sat on, being dropped and broken. You break the DVD, you are screwed. I like the sturdy security of a book, which is only vulerable to being burned.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by savvysearch
DVD seems like an awful idea. Id hate to be carrying around that DVD like it was a fragile snowflake, knowing how vulnerable those things are to scratches, being sat on, being dropped and broken.

If THAT is your only basis for the DVD concept being "awful," then it's quite illogical.

Millions of people each day use DVDs. You watch movies, don't you? DVDs have protective cases. I can't remember the last time I've sat on ANYTHING, much less a DVD. It isn't like that is the only DVD copy that exists. Heck, my school doesn't use the DVD but our tech person still has several of them lying around.

It looks like NYU and Arizona both use the Vital bookshelf, but neither school uses the DVD.

 

[UBTom]

My school also uses the Vitalbook thing. It comes on a DVD but like the others you can also copy the whole thing onto your computer HD if you like.

My opinion: Some things are still better on paper-- Like an anatomy atlas. I don't care how big your monitor is, it is NOT going to display an entire gross anatomy atlas plate at sufficient resolution to be of any help. You usually can only see part of the figure and have to scroll back and forth.

 

[le fort guy]

I'm not sure if Boston uses the same DVD as NYU or AZ but I heard that the DVD expires after a year. I don't like this idea much. Throughout my college years, like most of us on SDN, I have accumulated a small library of books that I frequently refer back to. I know many dentist who keep their dental school books in their office in case they need to look up something. It seems like it would be a shame to not have that luxury in the future (when your a dentist) because your DVD has expired.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by le fort guy
I'm not sure if Boston uses the same DVD as NYU or AZ but I heard that the DVD expires after a year.

We get new texts added to our Vital library each week. That is why we pay the required "licensing fee" each year.

Our texts never expire, meaning that the books I have when I graduate (or right now, for that matter) are mine forever.

Of course, all of those texts will have newer editions, which I won't have access to unless I pay a "professional licensing fee" after graduatioin.

But le fort guy, I wouldn't take the thought of it "expiring after a year" to mean that all the texts are gone. That just isn't so.

 

[savvysearch]

Originally posted by ItsGavinC
If THAT is your only basis for the DVD concept being "awful," then it's quite illogical.

Millions of people each day use DVDs. You watch movies, don't you? DVDs have protective cases. I can't remember the last time I've sat on ANYTHING, much less a DVD. It isn't like that is the only DVD copy that exists. Heck, my school doesn't use the DVD but our tech person still has several of them lying around.

It looks like NYU and Arizona both use the Vital bookshelf, but neither school uses the DVD.

If you had my personal experience with DVDs, you'd know my pain..... and by "awful", I meant it only dramatically. But books are better. Ive had cds/dvds scratched, become unplayable, trapped in my computer, frozen. I even scratched it while trying to stick it in the computer slot. Aside from the fact that many people shouldnt be staring at the computer screen for so long. But it would give me a great excuse to buy a laptop. And books are so much more accessible. You open it and the info is there. You don't have to wait 3 minutes til your computer turns on, wait til the cd starts to load and all that just to satisfy an inquiry.

 

[EcoRI]

"But le fort guy, I wouldn't take the thought of it "expiring after a year" to mean that all the texts are gone. That just isn't so. "

At my BU interview last year I was told that the DVD expires after a year and I did take that to mean you can?t use it anymore. The person directing the interview said you still had the option of buying the books but eventually they wanted to convert totally to DVD. I joked with him and asked if the books expire after a year.

 

[critterbug]

Originally posted by savvysearch
DVD seems like an awful idea. Id hate to be carrying around that DVD like it was a fragile snowflake, knowing how vulnerable those things are to scratches, being sat on, being dropped and broken. You break the DVD, you are screwed. I like the sturdy security of a book, which is only vulerable to being burned.

By law, you are allowed to make one backup copy for personal use. Backup the DVD onto a DVD-R. Use that. When it gets too scratched up, take your master copy, and back it up again. Destroy the one that is scratched up. There ya go.

I am also a big advocate of the DVD curriculum. I have never experienced it personally, but SAN Antonio is using the system and it seems pretty cool (In Theory that is 😉 )

I think I would like it!!

 

[gryffindor]

Originally posted by savvysearch
And books are so much more accessible. You open it and the info is there. You don't have to wait 3 minutes til your computer turns on, wait til the cd starts to load and all that just to satisfy an inquiry.

My first year I had an awful time adapting to the DVD curriculum here at Buffalo. The DVD and all it's accompanying headaches just plain sucked. But since 2000, VitalBook has greatly changed their product and made it much more user friendly. They added the highlighting feature, added corresponding page numbers to the texts, made the search a lot easier, integrated the pictures and tables and figures right into the text. A much better product than the crap they handed us in 2000. Second & third years I studied for classes using only the DVD (I didn't buy any paper copies of books) and it was fine. I had finally figured out how to use the thing and how to study effectively from it.

This year, VitalBook changed some stuff on the DVD, and it will take me some time to try and figure out how this new search feature works. It also looks like they've finally converted all the class notes on that thing into PDF files which will make it much easier to print just one page. Before it was impossible to judge which page you had to print if you only wanted the stuff about halfway into the document. There weren't any printing page distinctions. Why they didn't do that first year is beyond me. Then again, I've only opened VitalBook a total of ONE time this year, and when I saw they changed it and it would take me some time to learn how to use it again, I closed it and used a Google search in the internet instead to find what I was looking for.

VitalBook is manageable. I always have my Macintosh on or in sleep mode, so if I did need to look something up quickly, it really doesn't take as much time as savvysearch thinks it would. And I own tons of DVDs & CDs and have never had any problems with scratching them up or breaking them and stuff. My VitalBook DVD is always loaded in my DVD drive on my Mac, I never take it out. It is impractical to listen to CDs or watch DVDs on my Mac, they make separate machines for that stuff which are not very expensive to purchase. If you're so paranoid about breaking it, just put it on you hard drive like Tom suggested.

With all the money I've paid over these four years to VitalBook, I am hoping that I don't have to purchase any more textbooks when I go to residency. The DVD will not expire for us - the version they will give us in spring '04 is the one we will keep indefinitely after graduation. New updates and stuff will always come out, but whatever, that's not really a big deal. I don't ever see myself curling up with a good Pedo textbook to read on a rainy day so the fact that I will have no paper textbooks after graduation isn't really discomforting. I still have a whole bunch of books left from college that I haven't touched, I'd imagine my dental texts being utilized much in the same way after graduation.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

Break the DVD, burn the DVD, run it over....it doesn't matter bec you get a new copy should yours get damaged. Just go ask and you get it that sec.

 

[critterbug]

Originally posted by Brocnizer2007
Break the DVD, burn the DVD, run it over....it doesn't matter bec you get a new copy should yours get damaged. Just go ask and you get it that sec.

cool. Scratch my idea then !! 🙂

 

[Beagle]

I wish we had books. I rarely use my DVD. I study off of transcripts and am doing fine. However, if I had a book, I would probably read it. I have tried studying off the computer and your eyes get soooo tired, you can't highlight...it's just not the same.
It's so much easier flipping through pages in a book.
In the beginning of the year, I used my DVD and FREAKED OUT when my computer crashed and I was told that it would take two weeks for the school to fix it. I wasted the whole weekend worrying about my precious lap top rather than studying!!!!
I think the DVD system is unreliable and would rather lug around 100lbs of books than a lap top
Just my opinion......

 

[UBTom]

to Beagle:

Lots of guys up here in Buffalo can commiserate with you that's for sure. 😛 We also had inordinate amounts of trouble with the laptops the school forced us to buy for use with Vitalbook-- The repair rate for my class's laptops is running at 25%! Fully a quarter of the stupid Apple Powerbook G3s issued to us had required major repairs. Piece of ****...

Better late than never, but next semester I'm taking delivery of an IBM ThinkPad X31 ultraportable to replace that clunky Apple doorstop. Sweet... 😀

 

[edkNARF]

I use a Mac. Will VitalBook work with a mac, or is only a PC program?

 

[UBTom]

Hi EdkNarf:

Vitalbook will work with both. Some people have better luck running it on a Mac like Gavin, some people have better luck running it on a PC (like me). Whichever way works, as long as you can pass all your courses and graduate on time! 😀