"Technology News
Sunday February 27, 2011
Digital textbooks making way to W.Va. schools"
"Making the Big Shift
Districts in Indiana have created innovative alternatives to textbooks, thanks in part to a change in state policy."
"Welcome to the College Open Textbooks Blog
This blog was created to keep our expanding audience informed about what is going on in the world of Open Textbooks and related topics. Please read and enjoy the posts. You are encouraged to add any comments that add to the discussion. "
"Blowing Out the Digital Book as We Know It"
"Wausau schools look at how 'smart' technology will change classrooms"
"Why Pay for Intro Textbooks?"
"According to Inside Higher Education, OpenStax plans to compete with pricey $200 hardback texts from for-profit publishers by offering digital books for five common introductory classes for free, starting with sociology and physics texts this spring. OpenStax is beginning with introductory texts because the information in them is relatively basic and less likely to change year to year. Publishers are frequently accused of filling their coffers by updating textbook editions at random and then convincing professors to adopt the new version. If the OpenStax plan works, the multi-billion-dollar textbook industry could be in trouble."
"Virtual textbooks"
"Picking and Choosing Digital Content
Technology is changing the way schools think about crafting curricula and buying content. But are publishers ready for the changes?"
"Digital Culture Before Digital Textbooks"
"Digital textbooks get a boost with new offerings
Cloud-based 'Techbooks' from Discovery Education now include high school science, middle school social studies"
The High School Science Techbooks feature interactive glossaries, explorations, informational text, and hands-on and virtual labs for addressing the following subjects:
Biology
Chemistry
Earth and Space Science
Physics
The Middle School Social Studies Techbooks feature multimedia reference libraries; interactive maps, explorations, and activities; primary source documents; informational text; and model lessons for every concept. They include the following subjects:
United States History
World History
World Geography and Cultures
"Are hardbound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools?
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Feb. 1 challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students’ hands within five years. The Obama administration’s push comes two weeks after Apple Inc. announced it would start to sell electronic versions of a few standard high-school books for use on its iPad tablet."
"Nearly one year after a pilot program that put Virginia’s fourth, seventh, and ninth grade social studies curriculum on an iPad, Virginia state officials say they have learned much from the implementation.
The program, which is a collaboration between education publishing giant Pearson and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), was spawned from VDOE’s “Beyond Textbooks” initiative, which encourages schools to “explore the potential of wireless technology and digital textbooks to enhance teaching and learning.”"
"Apple’s announcement last week about its new iBooks2 and authoring app created big waves in education circles. But smart educators don’t necessarily need Apple’s slick devices and software to create their own books. How educators think of content curation in the classroom is enough to change their reliance on print textbooks.
As the open education movement continues to grow and become an even more rich trove of resources, teachers can use the content to make their own interactive textbooks. It might seem daunting, but the availability of quality materials online and the power of tapping into personal learning networks should make it easier.
Here’s how to create a digital textbook and strategies for involving the students in its development in three steps."