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Re: [school-discuss] project idea: open source text books



Incredible responses on this issue... Â ÂI wish you could see my smile... Â Â

In the work that I do assisting governments on national education planning, I must think of all aspects of such a venture...
My Âinterest and work is with developing countries, here IÂbelieveÂthat open educational resources can offer a great deal in terms of affordability, reliability, efficiency, and modernization of anÂeducationalÂsystem.

anyhow... Âthe discussion links very much with the work that I am doing in Laos and Vietnam. ÂI hope you can think from the start about how anything you create is properly licensed (CC seems to be a good way to go), that the product includes source so that it can be edited, mixed and localized, and that there is some mechanism for quality assurance.Â

The schools I work with do not have theÂcapacityÂto design, develop and deliverÂanythingÂbut what is passed on to them from the localÂgovernmentÂauthorities. Thus if you are interested in this part of the world I would highly encourage coming to work with a local education office, or the national government in kind assistance to help them modernize.Â

On a recent trip to schools in Vietnam, the principal told me they are actively using Khan academy math lessons and would be open to more OER, yet language is the big barrier. At a rural ethnicÂminorityÂschool I saw shelves of tattered books barely readable, yet that is all they had. ÂIn Laos I saw schools with only enough books for 1-6or7 students... ÂÂ

anyhow... Âit is veryÂexcitingÂto see folks soÂactivelyÂtalking about open texts... Â I see this as a world imperative and hope that you can think of developing countries when you design such products.

cheers
Tim

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j. Tim Denny, Ph.D.Â
ÂConsultant - International Development, Education and ICT
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While SAT scores might predict your success in the classroom, beyond a basic level of intelligence your passion, motivation, initiative, networking and hustle matter more than your grade-point average. ÂDale Stephens founder of UnCollege.org
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On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 03:47, Mr. Klock <math@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 27, 2012, at 2:26 PM, James Daley wrote:

quick question what is the difference between a text book anyother book like a manual or reference guide?

Excellent question-- obviously, there's a semantic issue here. ÂIn this conversation so far, by "textbook" I've meant a somewhat comprehensive resource, intended primarily for use in a specific academic course (ie Geometry, or American literature, or a particular section of history). ÂThese tend to be largely driven by text and images, though my personal definition of an electronic textbook would definitely include software applications available for student use, as well as multimedia content (that, at least, is part of the point of it being electronic, and not a print resource). Â

Whether or not this is a good model for what we *ought* to be building (or, rather, whether we can leverage recent technologies to reinvent how learning happens, or how academic content is organized) is, perhaps, an elephant in the room.

ÂJames Klock