-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Fitzgerald [mailto:dwfitzgerald@yahoo.com]=20
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 10:32 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Electronic textbooks, what's happening?
Hello,
We are working on a system that does a good portion of this - it's based
off the code for a grant funded project we are on the tail end of
completing.
Within the base site, people can create and organize texts. Other
members (with adequate permissions) can clone portions, or an entire
copy, of the text.=20
Textbooks can be distributed between sites via RSS; we have been looking
at BookBrewer as an easy way to convert rss feeds into ePub format.
I would love to see teachers from within independent schools share a
small portion of the customized curriculum they create. If a large
enough group of teachers shared lessons they had created, and licensed
them under a creative commons license, these lessons could be aggregated
together and reorganized/redistributed as coherent texts. Over time,
with a critical mass of educator participation, it would be possible to
create open textbooks that covered a range of subjects that could be
freely reused, and freely redistributed, that would work across
platforms (ie, students and teachers are not tied into a single device).
This system will be free to use and install; it's based off Drupal, and
we are currently sorting out the final details of the install, as we
want the core functionality to work with little to no additional
configuration required.
Cheers,
Bill
----- Original Message ----
From: Joe Frost <Joe.Frost@phoenixchristian.org>
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Sent: Thu, September 9, 2010 9:43:46 AM
Subject: Re: Electronic textbooks, what's happening?
What about a delivery system? Along the lines of ePortfolios, I'd like
to see a delivery system where eBooks - eTextBooks could be uploaded to
a profile so each user can log on to one website and have access to all
the textbooks necessary for the semester.
Further, I'd like to see that same eDelivery System contain a library of
eBooks that could be added or removed from user's ePortfolios when
necessary, desired, or appropriate for leisure reading...
Here students could do all their work online, read the text, type a
document, store it all online.
It's not just eBooks it's about WEB 2.0
Thanks,
*******=20
Joe Frost, MScis
Director of Technology & Operations
Department Chair Technology
http://www.phoenixchristian.org
https://rzonz.com/FYI
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Taffee [mailto:staffee@castilleja.org]=20
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 8:34 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Electronic textbooks, what's happening?
Great question, Tom. There are many compelling reasons for us to push
for widespread adoption of e-texts. (see my blog post:
http://goo.gl/gRpS.
Personally, I don't think that single purpose devices such as Kindles,
Nooks, or Sony e-Readers will be the optimal solution for schools. I
believe that a multi-purpose device such as the iPad is the more likely
"winner."
That said, a color e-reader (I think color is a must for charts &
diagrams), for <$100, coupled with interactive e-texts (rather than
simple PDF versions of texts), would be compelling when coupled with a
laptop program. If the reader and laptop could communicate with one
another, then a two device solution might work just fine.
Independent schools could use their collective purchasing power to
pressure textbook companies into releasing e-texts.
As for price, my understanding is that the vast majority of the cost of
publishing is not in the cost of materials of a traditional book. The
high cost of texts are a function of publishers charging what the market
will bear. For this reason, I hold out hope for open content and
open-textbook initiatives such as CK12 to serve as a high-quality
counterbalance to traditional publishers.
Planning for this future begins with pilot projects, perhaps using iPads
and free and inexpensive textbooks. Lots of classic literature available
for free in addition to a growing number of texts for other subjects.
s
-----
Steve Taffee | Director of Strategic Projects
Castilleja School | staffee@castilleja.org
1310 Bryant Street | www.castilleja.org
Palo Alto, CA 94301 | taffee.edublogs.org 650.924.1040 (Google Voice)
Women Learning, Women Leading <http://twitter.com/sjtaffee>
<http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetaffee>
On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Thomas Flanagan
<TFlanagan@winsor.edu>wrote:
> What's happening with electronic textbooks for independent schools?=20
> When will we get there and how? All that students will need is a book=20
> reader and a computer, preferably one in the same. How can we plan for
> this inevitable future?
>
> tom flanagan
> academic technology
> the winsor school
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see=20
> https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=3D128874]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,=20
> attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
>
[ For info on ISED-L see
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ISED-L
are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial,
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[ For info on ISED-L see
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attribution,=20
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=20
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