11–17 of 17 posts
There's an abundance of materials online, the issue is that they're not collated or aggregated in such a way that a technically uninspired teacher could effortlessly utilise them. This is a problem that I and many others are working towards addressing. "Textbooks" however, being books written to directly accompany a course, are probably not going to constitute the prevailing paradigm online - they are static and stru…
Will students have access to the same material at home? What if they don't own, or can't afford, a computer?
What is the cost of all this compared to replacing the books? Take into account having to replace the outdated online material as often as replacing outdated books.
I know I'm not alone when I say I learn much better with a book in my hand. I can "scroll" faster, index faster, almost everything is just faster. Yes, you can search on a computer faster but general reading is always more pleasurable with a book in hand.
How many families have computers at home? What kind of computers? How about internet access. Do they have enough computer resources so each child has a computer for textbooks access a large part of the evening? What kind of support would the school be willing to provide, say if someone had a computer failure at home, or difficulty using the specific book? Pay close attention to any disadvantaged families, children in foster care or living in shelters, etc. How would you make this work for them?
How are the existing textbooks used? Do students read them or do homework on long bus rides to and from school? Do they attend homework or tutoring programs at different sites? Do students do homework at school during breaks? Are there enough computers available for "peak demand?"
How about in-classroom access, discussing literature in English class, or looking up material during labs? How many computers do you need in each classroom for this sort of use? Would a small number of in-class paper books be enough?
I love e-books, but I also worry about the unintended consequences for some students.
So, for black/grayscale print, your students might be able to have a printed copy (in addition to electronic) while you still come out ahead, in terms of cost.
I mention the consumer class printers really just to emphasize per-page costs and perhaps with regard to one-off copies. If you are trying to outfit several hundred students, you would probably want to farm the printing (and binding) out to a professional, on-demand printer. I'm unfamiliar with what happens to color costs in that environment.
My main point is that open textbooks may make economic sense, even without dropping a computer in front of every kid.
There's an abundance of materials online, the issue is that they're not collated or aggregated in such a way that a technically uninspired teacher could effortlessly utilise them. This is a problem that I and many others are working towards addressing. "Textbooks" however, being books written to directly accompany a course, are probably not going to constitute the prevailing paradigm online - they are static and stru…
Any details on what you are doing? Anything I can do to help?
"students need to be able to self-teach using online dynamic material (as opposed to static textbooks). Teachers would design courses from mashups and assist students individually in their progress"
Mine would be an interface for designing and delivering those "mashups".
I plan to release much of it on an MIT (or equivalent) license, so if you're a python/django coder you can contribute code to it. Otherwise, your feedback would be great, once I have something to show you - you can get in touch with me through the link in my profile.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any details on what you are doing? Anything I can do to help?
Actually what I'm working towards is much like what jvincent is asking for: "students need to be able to self-teach using online dynamic material (as opposed to static textbooks). Teachers would design courses from mashups and assist students individually in their progress" Mine would be an interface for designing and delivering those "mashups". I plan to release much of it on an MIT (or equivalent) license, so if yo…