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

["Jeremy C. Reed" <reed@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I propose the group advocates and works toward open source text books.

These would be open content projects that result in free digital and 
(optionally) very low-cost print textbooks and course work. This would 
be a public endeavor using open collaborative methods. The text and its 
related artwork and formatting and tools to create and re-generate will 
be freely and publically accessible and redistributable.

Some side goals could be to save money for schools and better allocate 
tax payers money, such as increasing school teacher's salaries, and 
maybe better learning experience due to further media capabilities. 
(Another minor goal is so kids, like mine, don't have to carry around 
20+ pounds of textbooks :)

Maybe some ideas at:

 http://www.opencontent.org/

 http://archives.seul.org/schoolforge/discuss/May-2002/msg00194.html
 (Hey David where is your document now?)

 http://www.jasonheppler.org/open-source-scholarship-and-why-history-should-be-open-source.html

 http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/ask-a-master-teacher/22276

 http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/open.htm

I know we talked a little about it before around May 2002, but sadly 
nothing came out of it from me. But it is time to do this again because 
I recently listed to an interview about Steve Jobs and their textbook 
plans.  Here are some related links:

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/apples-textbook-partner-mcgraw-hill-reveals-ibooks-2-plans.php

350,000 downloads in 3 days
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2140927/apple-s-textbook-initiative-350-downloads-days

http://www.apple.com/education/ibooks-textbooks/

They may be "reinventing the textbook" but I don't think they are open 
source and may be, in fact, tied down to a proprietary platform.
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