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Questions answered on this page:
- What is Beyond Books?
- How much does Beyond Books cost?
- How much of an Internet expert do I have to be?
- What kind of computer equipment do I need?
- Does Beyond Books have banner ads?
- Are your programs for teachers or students?
- Do I need yet another user name and password?
- Can I view my usage logs?
- How do I subscribe?
- Are the programs designed for a specific grade?
- What if my teaching plan doesn't correspond to your program?
- How come I have to log in again on every page?
- My students login successfully, but aren't allowed access to program materials.
- Does Beyond Books use cookies?
- What teacher tools are available to make using Beyond Books easier?
- How do I navigate the Beyond Books site?
- Is there any program support if I need it?
- How representative are the Live Tours?
- I use AOL. How come pictures look fuzzy?
- Can I have your webpages read to me?
- How does Beyond Books help students with special learning needs?
- I have a laptop but no Internet access at home. How can I do my homework?
- How do I cite Beyond Books pages for my bibliography?
What is Beyond Books?
Beyond Books is an Internet-based source of educational information that parallels, expands on, and deepens current and approved curricula for high schools and middle schools. Voted "Best General Curriculum Web Site" by Curriculum Administrator, Beyond Books provides teachers with an easy method of harnessing the Internet and enables students to take control of their own learning.
We have many programs covering core subject areas in social studies, science, language arts and literature, as well as electives such as art history and technology.
We combine our own content, written by award-winning teachers in a style that students can understand and enjoy, with the best content on the Web. Our team carefully researches all available material to select the best engaging websites that are relevant to the topics we cover. In selecting the site, we give it our stamp of approval and provide a detailed description of what students and teachers will learn from the site before they take the time to review it for themselves. We also include many interactive features, quizzes, vivid graphics, animations, and audio clips to supplement the content that is provided.
How much does Beyond Books cost?
Beyond Books programs are available by subscription. Prices are based on whether a program is purchased by a school or for personal or family use.
School prices are based on the number of programs in the subscription and the number of students using those programs. We also offer program packages for which the cost per student is even lower. All subscriptions are valid for one full calendar year from the subscription date.
For individuals and families, a Beyond Books subscription includes up to four user names. Subscriptions are available on a yearly or monthly basis, for one discipline or for all Beyond Books programs. Individual/family subscriptions may be purchased only with a credit card.
To explore our price options more fully, please visit our Subscribe page.
How much of an Internet expert do I have to be to use your programs?
You don't have to be an Internet expert at all. The only Internet skills you need to use our programs are the abilities to log on and off the Internet and to move forward and backward in a browser (such as Netscape or Internet Explorer). Everything else is organized and structured for you. You don't need any technical training or even the skill to perform a sophisticated Internet search.
What kind of computer equipment do I need?
Any computer with a web browser and Internet access can use Beyond Books programs. A sound card and speakers are recommended; many Beyond Books programs include sound files of music and speeches, and offer links to sites with sound files.
Browser requirements
Plug-Ins
Does Beyond Books have banner ads?
Beyond Books contains no advertising on its pages. We prefer linking to web resources that do not use advertising; however, we do link to some valuable web resources that do contain advertising. We have marked them with the "AD" icon. The website may contain advertisements, such as banner ads or pop-up windows. We make every effort to ensure that inappropriate material does not reach students. After we have reviewed a web resource, an ad that is unacceptable or inappropriate may be introduced. If you encounter a website that you feel contains an unacceptable or inappropriate advertisement, please report it to us clicking on the "AD" icon and using the reporting form.
Are your programs for teachers or students?
Our programs are for both. For teachers, we offer Internet-based resources (which can be used for background material), lesson plans, and classroom activities. All of these are correlated to state and national standards. Each component of Beyond Books programs is designed to engage students in the subject matter. Students can use Beyond Books wherever they have Internet access -- school, home, or public library -- making it ideal for homework assignments, research projects, or self-directed exploration.
Do I need yet another user name and password?
No. If your school already assigns user names, you may use that user name within Beyond Books. We do require that no two people at a school, or within any school information system, share a user name. If you are a school administrator or the technical specialist at your school, contact us for more information about batch-loading into Beyond Books your student and teacher populations and optional information about classes. Your user name and password Either from the front page of Beyond Books (click on "User Login"), or when Beyond Books requests them, enter your user name and password. You can access Beyond Books programs and resources from any Internet-connected computer anywhere in the world. Your user name and password are valid for the term of your subscription. No representative from Beyond Books will ever contact you for your user name and password. User names and passwords are intended for individual use and must not be shared with others. Be sure to protect this information. For further information on how to receive your Beyond Books user name and password, please visit the section Subscribe to Beyond Books.
Can I view my usage logs?
Yes. Go to "Your Desk" (by logging in from the homepage or by clicking on "Your Desk" from any content page). Click on the tab labeled "Visit Log." You will be shown the Beyond Books resources you have used in the last week. Click on "Other Weeks" to see your complete usage history. If you are a teacher, in addition to your own usage logs, you can view the usage logs of all students who are members of classes you have set up in Beyond Books. If you are an administrator, in addition to your own usage logs, you can view the usage logs of any teacher or student at your school(s).
How do I subscribe?
To be taken to our subscription page, simply select "Subscribe to BB" on our homepage or click here . There, you can select programs or packages for your school or family. Follow the online instructions and send your completed forms to us. If you prefer, you can contact us by phone at 1-877-946-4622 or by e-mail at orders@beyondbooks.com.
Are the programs designed for a specific class level or grade?
Each Beyond Books program targets students in the grade at which the subject is most commonly taught. Our unique ability to go beyond the books, however, enables us to provide material for students of multiple learning styles and abilities. That means there is content in our middle-school programs that challenges high-school students and content in our high-school programs that is accessible to middle schoolers. In fact, some of our middle-school programs have been used with great success by advanced elementary-school students.
What if my teaching plan doesn't correspond to your program? Do you have any tips or strategies for using the programs?
Each program corresponds to established school curricula. One of our goals is to give teachers an easy-to-use, highly adaptive teaching tool. Our programs are designed so teachers and students can use what they want, how they want, when they want. Beyond Books offers strategies for using the programs in classrooms with various levels of computer access, such as classrooms with no computers at all, classrooms with few computers, and computer labs. To learn more, please visit the Strategies for Use page in the Teacher Door area. Independently, students can use Beyond Books wherever they have Internet access -- school, home, media center, or library -- making it ideal for homework assignments, research projects, or self-directed exploration.
How come I have to log in again on every page?
If you are asked to log in on every Beyond Books page you visit, the browser on your computer is probably configured to not accept cookies. To configure your machine to accept cookies, follow the instructions below for your type of computer and browser. If your exact browser is not listed, follow the instructions for the browser version that most closely matches your browser. To learn more about cookies, skip to the next section of the FAQ entitled "Cookies".
To turn cookies on for your machine:
My students login successfully, but aren't allowed access to program materials. What should I do?
For a student to have access to program material, three things must happen:
- The teacher must create a class in Beyond Books.
- The class must designate the appropriate Beyond Books program material to be made available to the class.
- The student must have joined that class.
Does Beyond Books use cookies?
Beyond Books does not use cookies to authenticate users and does not use persistent cookies at any time.
We do use per-session cookies to store information only during a session. These cookies are cached only while a user is visiting Beyond Books and are deleted from the cache when the user closes the session by logging out of Beyond Books or closing the browser.
(Note: A cookie is a small set of information that is stored in the cache. A per-session cookie is kept in the cache only for the duration of the session. A persistent cookie is stored on the hard drive of the computer. It is used to track information from one session to another.)
What teacher tools are available to make using Beyond Books easier?
To assist teachers in using Beyond Books, we offer via our Teacher Door lesson plans, correlations to state and national standards, useful tips, and links chosen specifically for teachers.
Additionally, study questions can be found on Beyond Books focus topic pages and some unit area pages by clicking on the purple button "Study Qs" in the left column of any Beyond Books program page. These questions can be used for discussion, as homework, as assessment tools for teachers, or as guides for students as they explore the programs on their own.
How do I navigate the Beyond Books site?
To navigate Beyond Books programs, simply use the three yellow buttons (labeled "Back," "Links," and "Next") in the upper-left corner of each program page. Additionally, each page of each program can be reached via the program contents page at the beginning of the program. Clicking on any picture or external link opens a new window.
To learn more about the types of pages included in Beyond Books programs and how to navigate among them, please visit Beyond Books Help.
Is there any program support if I need it?
Each of our programs has a producer who is available by e-mail to address any questions a user may have. Additionally, at the bottom of each program page is a "Talk to Us" form. The Beyond Books staff promptly attend to any questions submitted through this form.
If you have technical questions related to equipment or software, our technical staff will help where they can. Some problems, however, involve your local network or computer and can be handled only by your IT staff.
How representative are the Live Tours?
The Live Tours are very representative of Beyond Books programs. In fact, they are simply non–password-protected sections of programs currently in use.
I use AOL. How come pictures look fuzzy?
The AOL browser is by default set to display graphics that are smaller in byte size but of lower quality than web designers intend. This causes display problems for pictures, maps, and all other graphics. If graphics online often appear grainy and low quality, the AOL browser is a likely cause. To correct this problem, follow these instructions:
- AOL 4 or later: Click on the "My AOL" button at the top of the AOL window. Navigate to "Preferences," then to "WWW," then to "Web Graphics." There is a check box that says "Use Compressed Graphics." Make sure this box is not selected. Click on "OK" to accept the changes and exit. Click on the "Reload" button on the browser to see the changes.
- AOL 3: Click on the "Prefs" button at the top of the AOL Internet browser. Navigate to "Web Graphics." There is a check box that says "Use Compressed Graphics." Make sure this box is not selected. Click on "OK" to accept the changes and exit. Click on the "Reload" button on the browser to see the changes.
Also look under "Members," then "Preferences," then "Graphics," then "Set Color Mode" and make sure that the computer's display colors are set to the maximum allowable.
Can I have your webpages read to me?
If you want your computer to read aloud the text from webpages, look into the following audio reader options.
- Macintosh computers: Text-to-Speech is built into the newest Macintosh operating systems. If you don't already have this software, visit this webpage to install Text-to-Speech.
- Windows computers: An outstanding program is available for free, with an enhanced version available for a modest cost. For more information, visit ReadPlease.
- The website of the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto contains a good discussion of text-to-speech.
How does Beyond Books help students with special learning needs?
Beyond Books pages were designed to be overall compliant with User Agent Accessibility Guidelines W3C Working Draft 9 recommendations. Beyond Books has been positively reviewed by a focus group at a facility that serves people with chronic physical disabilities. Beyond Books content, interactive features, and site design are effective for students with special needs. For example, one customer wrote the following:
All of the students at our school are deaf, and reading level has always been a problem for them. I like your program because of the visual nature and the way the text is set up. It uses good pictures and animations in close proximity to the text, which research has shown to be highly effective for students (especially deaf students) to be able to construct meaning from the text.
(Also refer to "Can I have your webpages read to me?")
I have a laptop but no Internet access at home. How can I do my homework?
If you are in a school that has a one-to-one ratio of computers to students, where each child has a laptop computer that he or she transports between home and school, then it's very easy.
Using Internet Explorer, when you're at school or elsewhere that has an Internet connection, navigate to the page you will be using offline.
On the Favorites menu, click on "Add to Favorites." Select the "Make available offline" check box and follow the instructions on your screen.
The webpage(s) you marked in this way will be available from your laptop even without an Internet connection.
How do I cite Beyond Books pages for my bibliography?
Every Beyond Books content page provides complete information for your bibliography.
Below the banner that's near the top of the page is a "cite this page" tab. When you click it, you will be provided with the information you need for your bibliography.
If your question hasn't been answered above, then ask our support team and we'll respond shortly.
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