[Fwd: Re: [seul-edu] Standards and Requirements]

[Doug Loss <drloss@suscom.net>]

Mick,

   What does it say about us that you're posting this on Christmas
morning, and I'm forwarding it to the list on Christmas Eve?  We need to
get out more, I think.

-------- Original Message --------

From: Michael Hall <olc@openlearningcommunity.org>
To: <seul-edu@seul.org>
Subject: Re: [seul-edu] Standards and Requirements


As a teacher working at the chalkface, I have a couple of comments on 
these basically good ideas:

1. Open source software should become a means of letting
state/government 
education authorities avoid their responsibilities. We all pay taxes to 
(apart from bomb the starving and dispossessed) ensure that we have a 
decent education system. Volunteerism is a wonderful thing and has built 
Linux, but I wouldn't want to see it go too far without considering what 
the state should rightfully be contributing (we are looking long-term to 
a time when Linux/OSS rules, no?).

2. Most teachers are very very busy. Even with the technical/cultural 
resources, asking them to find time to write the curriculum as well is
not 
an idea that will catch on immediately with the majority. Don't mean to
be 
negative, but that's the reality. All the same, it is a great idea and I 
would dearly love to see some provision for teachers to make such 
contributions in paid time as part of their professional development.

Come to think of it, maybe we could explore ways of getting Linux/OSS
into 
official professional development activities (don't know if you have PD 
days in the US/Canada, but they are common in Australia). Hmm ....

Anyway,

Michael


On Mon, 24 Dec 2001, William Abernathy wrote:

> When I was in schoolbook publishing, our major push was to gain textbook 
> acceptance in certain key states, among them Texas, California, and Florida. The 
> conventional wisdom was that if you were accepted in Texas, you'd locked up most 
> of the South, and acceptance in California meant most of the Western states. The 
> economic realities of publishing militate that smaller states often have to take 
> what their richer neighbors require in terms of their books, materials, and 
> curricula. As you search for information on the various states, keep this in 
> mind. When looking for requirements across the country, you may want to ask if 
> their curriculum and requirements are harmonized with, or otherwise similar to 
> those of other states.
> 
> If we can provide the technical and cultural framework for teachers to develop 
> their own curricula on an open-source basis, we could provide substantial 
> financial savings and local tailoring of curricula. Schoolbook publishing is a 
> spendy racket, and school districts, methinks, would love a method for acquiring 
> educational materials that doesn't cost anything but the shared educational 
> expertise of their teachers. If we survive, not as a two year goal, but maybe as 
> a five year goal, we should work towards establish a collegial free-software 
> style of curriculum design that works independently of the publishing houses. 
> States would get more flexibility at less cost, with higher teacher involvement 
> and respect.
> 
> Anyway, I hope to be able to find out more on the matter of state standards from 
> former colleagues in schoolbook publishing after the holidays.
> 
> --WA
> 
> Chris Hornbaker wrote:
> 
> > Doug Loss wrote:
> > 
> >>You know, compiling a list of the US standards state by state might be
> >>very useful for people developing courseware and curricula.  Outside the
> >>US such things are generally more centralized, I think, and adding
> >>non-US standards to such a list could be as easy as adding a new US
> >>state's standards.  Anyone want to have a go at compiling such a list?
> >>It doesn't need to be comprehensive from the outset, but as more
> >>standards are added it would become more useful. 
> >>
> > 
> > This is what I'm working on. I'm trying to make a "common base" so that 
> > people can have something to follow. I just wanted to know if there was one 
> > central site I could have gone to instead of going to each states site. 
> > 
> > 
> >>Does the US Department
> >>of Education keep information on the developmental standards used in the
> >>various states in some centralized location?  If so, is it available
> >>over the internet?
> >>
> > 
> > Don't know. You'd think they would, but I haven't turned anything up yet.
> > 
> > 
> > C. Hornbaker
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
>