[IAEP] Some Comments on Digital Textbooks In California

[Caroline Meeks]

On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 12:53 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  Hi...
> Adam Holt alerted me to Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposal to go digital with
> textbooks statewide in California high schools, starting with math and
> science this year.  Here is my retired teacher's view of the situation...
>
>
> (See: http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/fact-sheet/12455/)
>
>
> The Good:
>
>
> Textbooks can be up to date and, hopefully, will be.
>

Sets the stage for more competition in text books and being able to buy or
download for free different chapters or lessons from different places.  I'm
thinking like iTunes. Before you had to buy the album, now you can just buy
the song you want.  Overall maybe the cost hasn't gone down but what I pay
to get what I want has gone down quite a bit.  I think levels the playing
field some for organizations and individuals who want to put out truely free
learning objects.

>
>
> The Bad
>
>
> Gov. Schwarzenegger suggests teachers can "print out pages for students who
> do not have computers."  Who pays?  Probably the teachers!  This really
> shows no commitment to supplying the schools with computers
>

Perhaps an opportunity for Sugar on a Stick and School Key (my old name for
a more standard Linux desktop version for older students) and donated
computers.

Integrating with Moodle and Google Gears means the learning content they
need that week can be automatically downloaded to the stick and then
students could access it on very low end hardware, with or without internet.


Without a solution like this I can see huge disparies between kids who have
computers and fast internet connections and those without.  Even printing
costs aside, one kid is using video, interactive models, and adaptive quizes
from home, and another is getting printouts to put in his backpack?


>
> The Ugly
>
>
> Textbook publishing is a big, competitive business.  Lots of profits are to
> be made in publishing textbooks.  What incentive will there be to publish
> free online books? You can bet they will not be free for long.
>

Oh yeah, its going to be interesting....I've heard some pretty interesting
stories about how text book purchasing decisions are made....I wonder if the
whole process will get a bit more sunshine on it.

Thanks Caryl ,  this is certainly huge news for us.


> Hummmmm...
>
> Maybe we do need Jerry Brown to run for governor.  He had a hugecommitment to educational technology when he was in office.
>
>
> Any comments?
>
>
> Caryl
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
Caroline Meeks
Solution Grove
Caroline at SolutionGrove.com

617-500-3488 - Office
505-213-3268 - Fax
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