[IAEP] Fwd: New booki for replacing textbooks with OER

[James Simmons]

It might be worth pointing out some of the features of Booki that make
it ideal for making books.  They include:

Wiki-like collaboration

WYSIWYG editing of content, with real HTML, not Wiki markup,
underneath.  This makes it easy to turn articles from websites, Wikis,
etc, into chapters in a real book by simply copying and pasting.  The
editor also includes a powerful spell checker.

Output in many formats:

1).  PDF suitable for printed books (which you can use custom style
sheets to create)
2).  PDF with a Table of Contents pane suitable for reading online or
as an e-book
3).  Web pages created using a template, which you can customize to
match the appearance of an existing website.  This gives you a static,
"published" version of your content for the general public, unlike
Wikipedia where the published version can be changed by anyone at all.
4).  EPUB
5).  By running the EPUB through the free Kindlegen utility,
Kindle-formatted MOBI.
6).  Newspaper-formatted PDF

I've been using Booki for months now, and I'm a big believer.

James Simmons


On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> Please take a look at
>
> http://booki.flossmanuals.net/
>
> a site for collaborative authoring and publishing of manuals for Open
> Source software. Sugar Labs has set up another trial instance of the
> same booki software for OER development. I am arranging for some
> further administrative changes so that we can begin to use it, and
> will then invite various interested persons and groups to try it out
> and to discuss what we might be able to do by combining this with
> Sugar and other education software.
>
> If you would like to work on some educational materials on such a site,
> please create an account at
>
> http://booki.treehouse.su/
>
> and take a look around. As soon as we get the license menu set up, we
> will be able to start experimenting with creating materials.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>
> Date: Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 14:40
> Subject: New booki for replacing textbooks with OER
> To: FM Discuss <discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net>
>
>
> A number of factors have recently come together to support a
> full-scale attack on the global education problem (and the poverty and
> related ills that education can largely cure), not least among them
> booki. Sugar Labs has set up a new trial booki instance for our
> Replace Textbooks project, at
>
> http://booki.treehouse.su/
>
> We have some admin tasks to be completed before we can create books
> there, and I will need help learning to be the admin.
>
> I expect the production version to be hosted at sugarlabs.org. The
> outline of the project is at
>
> http://www.wsis-community.org/mod/groups/topicposts.php?topic=118512&group_guid=14358
> OER Economics for a billion children
>
> It is based on the fact that computers + OERs now cost much less than
> printed textbooks, except in those countries that can't afford decent
> textbooks to begin with.
>
> Our first projects will be based on Don Cohen's Calculus by and for
> Young People, and Caleb Gattegno's language and math teaching methods.
> We would like to cover every topic for every course for every age,
> preschool through high school, for students and teachers, and let
> teachers and education authorities remix them as needed. Maybe for
> parents and ministries of education, too.
>
> Our next technical problem will be integrating our OERs with Sugar
> education software. There are several possible approaches that I
> intend to discuss with those who may be able to help realize them.
>
> Accomplishing all of this will depend on recruiting a lot of
> volunteers, and perhaps attracting some funding. Let me know if you
> are interested.
>
> I have begin to outline a textbook on economics for OER instructional
> designers, following a suggestion by Maria Droujkova on the
> MathFutures list. The idea is to tell the truth about the limitations
> of conventional economics, and to explore the economics of Free
> Software and OERs for a billion children at a time, as in my
> UNESCO/WSIS post.
>
> --
> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
> http://www.earthtreasury.org/
> _______________________________________________
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