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I've often thought that textbooks would be a productive place to focus excess energy among software freedom types. The way I see it, there are at least three wa

I've often thought that textbooks would be a productive place to focus excess energy among software freedom types. The way I see it, there are at least three ways in which most technology professionals could effectively contribute: - Content production and editing - Improving the design and branding of open textbook purveyors - Advocating for the adoption of open source textbooks in your local K-12 system and community colleges (especially the more cash-strapped ones) I know of no organization that attempts to organize community efforts in these directions, though. If there is one, I'd love to know about it and get involved. If not, maybe it's an idea whose time has come.

ataturk 8y ago
Except that many profs write their own textbooks and then market them to a captive audience. I had a chemistry professor in undergrad who had the #1 textbook for the 101/102 level courses. He was a super nice guy, but one could not overlook the business angle there. He saw a niche and filled it with something of very high quality. We have to keep in mind that not every professor is independently wealthy, in fact, most are not. If they can find success marketing their textbooks, they should. Where I draw the line is the insidious behavior of the publishers. Often the authors are as big a victims as the students. So all I ask is that you "everything free" types keep in mind that people should be paid for their hard work. That it doesn't automatically mean someone else is being exploited and it certainly doesn't mean that the result can't still be open source. I am highly skeptical that anything high quality and worthwhile will come from uncompensated authors, editors, and publishers. Nothing ever works like that. And yes, I was in higher ed as an undergrad and graduate student 2x and then as a professor for awhile. I have seen the best and worst of higher ed.
pome 8y ago
Maybe CK-12 Foundation[0]? Also CK-12 have FlexBook's[1]. [0] https://www.ck12.org/ https://www.ck12.org/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlexBook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlexBook
nickpsecurity 8y ago
I often suggest Wikimedia use their excess money not spent on Wikipedia itself to create low-cost or openly-licensed textbooks. If adopted by schools, students everywhere would save money on textbooks that were high quality. The collection would grow over time as both revenue and donations come in. They might also do something similar to Coursera. Textbooks just seemed like they'd be easier project with large, positive outcome. Plus, some could be updated rarely (eg 5 years) since the content doesn't change much.
- waterhouse 8y ago
  There is something called Wikibooks, though I've only spent maybe half an hour reading a particular wikibook years ago and can't speak to overall quality: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
  - nickpsecurity 8y ago
    Yeah but I wasnt impressed with the quality when I looked at them. Im talking about paying good writers and illustrators to do stuff students would actually want to buy. Then, price it affordably. Maybe even tiered with a default price plus discounts for smaller institutions.

ataturk 8y ago

Except that many profs write their own textbooks and then market them to a captive audience. I had a chemistry professor in undergrad who had the #1 textbook for the 101/102 level courses. He was a super nice guy, but one could not overlook the business angle there. He saw a niche and filled it with something of very high quality. We have to keep in mind that not every professor is independently wealthy, in fact, most are not. If they can find success marketing their textbooks, they should. Where I draw the line is the insidious behavior of the publishers. Often the authors are as big a victims as the students. So all I ask is that you "everything free" types keep in mind that people should be paid for their hard work. That it doesn't automatically mean someone else is being exploited and it certainly doesn't mean that the result can't still be open source. I am highly skeptical that anything high quality and worthwhile will come from uncompensated authors, editors, and publishers. Nothing ever works like that. And yes, I was in higher ed as an undergrad and graduate student 2x and then as a professor for awhile. I have seen the best and worst of higher ed.

pome 8y ago

Maybe CK-12 Foundation[0]? Also CK-12 have FlexBook's[1]. [0] https://www.ck12.org/ https://www.ck12.org/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlexBook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlexBook

nickpsecurity 8y ago

I often suggest Wikimedia use their excess money not spent on Wikipedia itself to create low-cost or openly-licensed textbooks. If adopted by schools, students everywhere would save money on textbooks that were high quality. The collection would grow over time as both revenue and donations come in. They might also do something similar to Coursera. Textbooks just seemed like they'd be easier project with large, positive outcome. Plus, some could be updated rarely (eg 5 years) since the content doesn't change much.

waterhouse 8y ago
There is something called Wikibooks, though I've only spent maybe half an hour reading a particular wikibook years ago and can't speak to overall quality: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
- nickpsecurity 8y ago
  Yeah but I wasnt impressed with the quality when I looked at them. Im talking about paying good writers and illustrators to do stuff students would actually want to buy. Then, price it affordably. Maybe even tiered with a default price plus discounts for smaller institutions.