General Information

Q1: Which titles are available now in CourseCompass, and which will be coming soon?

A: Hundreds of higher education titles are available right now, with more coming online every day. Business, engineering, math, sciences, humanities, social sciences....Pearson Higher Education publisher's offer top-notch titles in these disciplines and many more.

To browse available titles for your textbook publisher before you register in CourseCompass, click the publisher link below:

• Prentice Hall - www.prenhall.com/coursecompass
• Addison-Wesley/Benjamin Cummings - www.aw.com/coursecompass
• Allyn & Bacon/Longman - www.ablongman.com/coursecompass

You can also explore the available titles after you register in CourseCompass. As you create a course, you can look through titles from all the Pearson Higher Education publisher's to find the one best suited to your curriculum.

Q2: How is CourseCompass different from Blackboard?

A: With Blackboard, you gain all the advantages of a state-of-the-art course management tool. CourseCompass builds on that solid foundation, to provide you with an optimum teaching experience. CourseCompass is easier to use than Blackboard, with refined navigation and extensive online support for both instructors and students. You have more control over the design of your courses than you do with Blackboard. And, by prepopulating courses with quality content and additional support, CourseCompass helps you quickly get started teaching your course.

CourseCompass is also nationally hosted, while Blackboard offers local installations.

Q3: Why is Pearson Education offering content in both CourseCompass and Blackboard?

A: Pearson Education seeks to meet the needs of all instructors for a flexible, easy-to-use online course environment filled with rich content resources.

• If your school has a Blackboard license, you have access to local service and support for Blackboard 5.x and to Pearson Education course cartridges.
  
  
• If your school does not have a Blackboard license, you will use the nationally hosted CourseCompass environment, which provides access to a wide range of courses from Pearson Education imprints.

Q4: Why did Pearson Education develop CourseCompass?

A: Pearson Education recognized your need for customizable content in a hassle-free course management system. CourseCompass not only meets that immediate need, but will grow with you as your needs change.

In this easy-to-use course management environment, instructors can:

• Customize built-in course materials and add your own content
  
  
• Employ powerful course design and management tools to quickly build and manage your courses
  
  
• Enjoy working in a flexible environment that offers basic-to-advanced content and features to meet each instructor's needs

Q5: How will CourseCompass help me teach my courses?

A: CourseCompass is an ideal environment for teaching and learning. Here are some of the key benefits:

• CourseCompass provides a rich set of resources, including tests, for any course title you select. In some cases, an electronic version of your textbook is included in the preloaded content for your course. These resources represent a huge head start in setting up a course.
  
  
• With a browser connection, both you and your students can easily access course materials anywhere, anytime - from home, from class, from a computer lab, or while on a trip.
  
  
• The CourseCompass gradebook automatically keeps track of students' performance on quizzes and tests. Think of all the hours this tool will save you! CourseCompass also computes statistics that will help both you and your students understand their performance relative to the class as a whole.
  
  
• You can integrate online tools for communication and collaboration into your class. Students can work together all semester through a Discussion Board, for example, or interact in real time in a Virtual Classroom session.
  
  
• You can include links to web resources in your course. Students simply click the links to display the resources.
  
  
• The home page for each course displays a dynamic, expandable course outline. Every entry in the outline is a link to course content.

Q6: How much does a CourseCompass course cost?

A: As an instructor, you can use CourseCompass for free to develop and deliver courses. Students purchase access codes from campus bookstores either as standalone access code cards or bundled with new textbooks at a discounted price. The second option is the better value. If students purchase used textbooks, they must buy new standalone Student Access Kits. Alternatively, students can purchase access online during registration. The purchase price for a standalone student access code card varies by title. Ask your local Pearson Education sales representative for information regarding a specific title.

Q7: Who do instructors contact for information about pricing, bundled availability, and ordering?

A: Instructors can contact their local Pearson Education sales representative for pricing information.

• Addison-Wesley/Benjamin Cummings
• Allyn & Bacon/Longman
• Prentice Hall

Q8: Is CourseCompass nationally or locally hosted? What's the difference?

A: CourseCompass is nationally hosted. You can use CourseCompass as your online learning environment even if your school does not have a Blackboard 5.5.1 (or higher) license. If your school does have such a license, you can access Pearson Education's rich content resources through course cartridges that run on the local Blackboard installation.

Q9: Does my school need a Blackboard license for me to use a CourseCompass course?

A: No. Because CourseCompass is nationally hosted, you can select CourseCompass as your teaching environment without any investment from your school in a Blackboard license.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) categories:

• General Information
• Getting Started for Instructors
• Getting Started for Students
• TestGen
• eBooks
• Support and Technical Information