[Textbook-l] distinct books

Thu Aug 14 18:18:35 UTC 2003

> > Correct. But that's not something that an open
> > content textbook policy can
> > change. That's a community issue, having to do with
> > 'community moral
> > standards'.
> But sometimes, court cases are filed, making it a
> national issue by the time it gets to the supreme
> court. And you can bet FOX will have a field day over
> the lawsuit if our book gives any reference to
> religions other than christianity without giving equal
-------------------------
Who cares about FOX, or any other media outlet that one agrees, or disagrees
with? I may not agree with certain points of view, or community standards,
but whether FOX (or someone else) complains is of no concern to me.

Wiki is about open source content, not moral guarianship. In fact, moral
guardianship is anethema to open source content.

> (but out of place) refrences to christianity.
> > Sometime true, sometimes not. Again, this is
> > something that open source has
> > no control over.
> It's something every textbook, open or closed, must do
> to be used.
> > It's not a conspiracy-theory rant; it's a
> > well-considered opinion. There is
> > some truth to what you say. I don't think you're
> > paranoid (unless you were
> > writing this with your door quadruple-bolted and a
> > loaded scrapnel grenade
> > on your lap after your seventh Red Bull in the last
> > 30 minutes)  ;)
> >
> > Here are some reasons why we *should* be aiming at
> > schools.
> >
> >3) Open source textbooks can - as suggested, and is
> >advised - be
> >modular, so
> >that districts can choose those parts of a book that
> >they want (that
> >are in
> >addition to the approved core. So, if you have a
> >district that believes
> >that
> >the idea evoluton is the devil's work, they can add a
> >module about how
> >we
> >didn't evolve from apes. They'll do it anyway. In
> >fact, someone may
> >very
> >well contribute such a module to an open source text
> >project. Wouldn't
> >it be
> >better to see the part of the book that is approved
> >for general use in
> >place
> >(cheaper, better content, more flexible, etc.), than
> >not? There's no
> >way
> >that open source content can legislate community
> >morality
> Good idea. Kinda like letting them use the Wiki at
> their end. But that would probably be to cunbersome
> for them. They want a ready-made textbook. Not to
> mention that this modularity, although it is in theory
> good, would be a nightmare to print.
----------------
I envision a situation where modules could be selected, bundeled, and
printed as a whole (or as individual modules, if one so chose).

The pilot that Wiki is going to work on may not be modular (or may be).

> I came up with a new idea for what we can use our
> textbooks as without risk of censorship:
> idiot's-guide-type books!  We could make a series
> called something like "World History: By Anyone, For
> Anyone"
-----------------
That's what the situation is today, believe it or not. Historical
perspectives abound. Are you familiar with Howard Zinn's books? He writes
about history from the perspective of 'the people'. They're very
interesting. Then again, one can find almost any perspective present in
history books. History is both written, *and* made. ;)

Again, the project that we're going to take on can itself make history. We
have a chance, together, to create a beginning model for open source K-12
that will save schools and students billions of dollars, provide more
variety of content, help create an ethic of  sharing content for the public
good, permit the contribution of informed citzens who have something to
offer the community of scholars (and citizens), and so on.

Your earlier points about some of the reasons why textbooks are so bad are
well taken. This is oru chance to change that. It's a big challenge; I think
we're up to it.

Sanford
>
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