California State Senator Proposes Funding Open-Source Textbooks

Post by wisty » Thu, Jan 05, 2012, 10:14 PM UTC

equark wrote: post #26

breckinloggins wrote: post #6

I think the whole CONCEPT of a "textbook" needs to change: 1. It should be open-source or available on your nearest "App Store" for a REASONABLE price 2. It should be interactive. If I have a history textbook describing a battle, I want to be able to watch the battle unfold (even if it's just a diagram). If I am reading a chemistry textbook, let me play with the molecule. When I need to learn about the D3 group in Ab…

I think you're missing the fact that textbooks are written by people. They don't magically appear. Writing a good textbook requires the passion of a single expert author, who must dedicate years of his or her life to write it. There are very few shortcuts. And crowd-sourcing is definitely not one of them. A more innovative approach, I think, would be for the government to buy out leading textbooks at a premium and af…

Post by NinetyNine » Thu, Jan 05, 2012, 11:06 PM UTC

sschronk wrote: post #33

I started working on a Computer Science textbook about a year ago. I found out that people were not interested in using it. This is what I had made so far: http://opentextbook.info/ Interestingly enough, I posted this info on Slashdot and it was removed almost right away.

Post by motters » Thu, Jan 05, 2012, 11:34 PM UTC

niels_olson wrote: post #31

equark wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing the fact that textbooks are written by people. They don't magically appear. Writing a good textbook requires the passion of a single expert author, who must dedicate years of his or her life to write it. There are very few shortcuts. And crowd-sourcing is definitely not one of them. A more innovative approach, I think, would be for the government to buy out leading textbooks at a premium and af…

My kids are in California. I assure you, the textbooks are reference standard awful. People magazine is more compelling. I am entirely certain the average parent of a kid in our school would be able to turn out better material, to say nothing of all the professors and leading experts in California who would love to contribute directly to their kids' education. The question in my mind is how to construct this. The law…

Post by sschronk » Fri, Jan 06, 2012, 1:03 AM UTC

NinetyNine wrote: post #34

sschronk wrote: post #33

I started working on a Computer Science textbook about a year ago. I found out that people were not interested in using it. This is what I had made so far: http://opentextbook.info/ Interestingly enough, I posted this info on Slashdot and it was removed almost right away.

The domain is non-descriptive, and .info is typically associated with spam. It also looks like you're in a flux state of completion, with not a lot of detail. I'd suggest limited your scope and making a smaller, but more polished product, before trying to attract more contributors.

Post by tomflack » Fri, Jan 06, 2012, 2:49 AM UTC

wisty wrote: post #32

equark wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing the fact that textbooks are written by people. They don't magically appear. Writing a good textbook requires the passion of a single expert author, who must dedicate years of his or her life to write it. There are very few shortcuts. And crowd-sourcing is definitely not one of them. A more innovative approach, I think, would be for the government to buy out leading textbooks at a premium and af…

High school textbooks are written by editors, dozens of content writers, and some "name" author who puts their name on it. University level textbooks are much better, of course.