"Algebra, as designed by McGraw-Hill for iBooks 2, is lighter by pounds. It's indexed for search. It's quick. You can highlight the text and insert notes. It removes one layer of abstraction between students and tools that already existed. Rather than accessing quizzes, tutorials, and enrichment videos by loading a CD-ROM into a computer or entering a password into a website, they're a tap away.

That's where the differences end. Students still interact with mathematics as they always have…

What I'm saying, basically, is that I'd have to modify, adapt, and extend the McGraw-Hill iBook in all the same ways that I modified, adapted, and extended the McGraw-Hill print textbook. We'd pull out the iBook just as infrequently as its printed sibling."

"Print textbooks are powerless to facilitate that moment right there. Teachers can't facilitate it, not at anywhere near the speed and ease I'm suggesting. iBooks Author can't facilitate it either, but if it could — if it had some kind of "Q&A;" widget that lived alongside its other widgets and basically copied all the options from Google Forms — I'd find the platform difficult to resist.

But iBooks Author doesn't exist for the pleasure of math education publishers or even education publishers. "This is about Apple versus Amazon for who will sell digital literature in the future," says Audrey Watters. "This isn't really about textbooks."

iBooks Author serves publishers, period. It'll help you publish your Firefly fan fiction, your autobiography, or your Nana's recipe collection. It's extremely useful, broadly speaking, which inevitably means that, narrowly speaking to math education publishers, it's much less useful."

"Schiller made a sentimental play to this constituency, opening his presentation with a series of excerpted interviews in which teachers sang the sad litany of challenges they face: cratering budgets, overcrowded classrooms, unprepared, disengaged students. The argument that Apple — founded by dropouts and autodidacts — is fundamentally motivated to change this set of conditions is as ludicrous as the notion that the company could ever hope actually to do any such thing…

We can never count Apple out — the company’s visions have an implacable way of turning into givens — but the future is undoubtedly more complex. There will still be overcrowded classrooms, overworked teachers, and shrinking budgets in an education world animated by Apple. But I prefer to think of teachers and students finding ways to hack knowledge and make their own beautiful stories to envisioning ranks of studens spellbound by magical tablets."

"If you would occupy your statehouse to keep your job, pay, and benefits, please also consider occupying your classroom.

Give your students at least a day a week to follow their passions.
Get rid of your furniture. Help kids borrow, bring, or build their own.
Get rid of your textbooks. Or redact them.
Ask kids to make sense of the world as it happens across media and technologies.
Build communities instead of reinforcing expectations.

It will be very scary, but not as scary as what others face. It will be very uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as remaining silent. It will cost us some, but without making some sacrifice we shouldn’t expect or ask our students to save us or our world."

"Suited (I thought) and tied,<br />
earnest as the day was very long,<br />
I taught them when to be still,<br />
why they needed to listen,<br />
where Columbus was born,<br />
how to answer textbook questions<br />
and what the similarity was<br />
between my decrees and their grades.<br />
<br />
Sitting at bolted desks            <br />
while flies rambled on tall windows<br />
they taught me when to shut my mouth, <br />
why I needed to hear,<br />
where they were coming from,<br />
how to question textbook answers,<br />
and what the difference is<br />
between schooling and education."

"…a free, not-for-profit, multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional art history textbook. Dr. Beth Harris & Dr. Steven Zucker began smARThistory in 2005 by creating a blog featuring free audio guides in the form of podcasts for use in MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Soon after, we embedded the audio files in our online survey courses. The response from our students was so positive that we decided to create a multi-media survey of art history web-book. We created audios and videos about works of art found in standard art history survey texts, organized the files stylistically and chronologically, and added text and still images.<br />
We are interested in delivering the narratives of art history using the read-write web's interactivity and capacity for authoring and remixing. Publishers are adding multimedia to their textbooks, but unfortunately they are doing so in proprietary, password-protected adjunct websites."

"This video was produced as a contribution to the EDUCAUSE book, The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing, edited by Richard Katz and available as an e-Book at http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandth... or commercially at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967... Produced in 2007 as a conversation starter in small groups. Released in 2011 as a conversation starter online."

"I felt I was on the ship the first time I glanced at this evocative scene  and, so, set off on an exploration.<br />
<br />
The photo was taken at sunrise at an eight miles distance on the 1898 German Valdivia expedition w/ Carl Chun and water colored by F. Winter.  Can you see that the center of the island is the ice-filled crater of an inactive volcano? The expedition did not land.<br />
<br />
The Wikipedia entry reads like flash fiction. This chunk of rock and ice has many stories, an unused Internet country code top-level domain (.bv) and a path to this little bit of humor.<br />
<br />
I wish I had never read a history textbook."

"Teaching from a textbook is almost always crappy teaching, so the whole system is flawed. It seems to me that cheating is the almost inevitable consequence of test-giving and test-taking. It doesn’t have to be this way. The best method for assessing learning progress is self-assessment, with the input of someone passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. This would require a lot of trust in the student, but also more work on the part of the teacher — who would not really be a teacher at all, in the traditional sense, but a person in love with a certain topic, probably a practitioner of the subject in question, maybe retired, maybe active.<br />
<br />
Here’s my idea of what an ideal school would be like, borrowed from David Albert’s book And the Skylark Sings with Me a book about a family’s experience in home and community based education. It’s how I’ve envisioned, but never articulated, my own perfect school. "

"Humans balk at a completely unstructured day…we can build a good compromise between unstructured classes & traditional timetable. Ideally, we will be able to sit down w/ students at weekly Sunday meetings & map out week ahead.<br />
<br />
…schools will do better managing tech if admin sets clear objectives for tech program but then creates conditions for healthy, intelligent experimenting by faculty & students…internal crowd-sourcing is fastest way to develop set of best practices to fit school’s mission…iPhone = single most important tool we’ve used this term…<br />
<br />
Less is more. We overbooked museum tours, lectures & adventures at start of term. Better–much better–to go to same gallery 3 times & work closely w/ docent than go to 3 different exhibits. Better–much better–to study 3 paintings closely than whole galleries worth superficially. In future, we want to collaborate w/ museums, galleries, universities, exhibitions & so on that are willing to develop deep & tightly focused projects."

"Anyway, this little classroom moment may be of interest. The focus for 6th-grade Social Studies is ancient civilizations. We study Egypt, the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia, Greece & Rome. But, because I am slow, we never really get very far into Rome before I run into summer break. & Rome is pretty interesting. Besides that, the kids don’t really learn much about ancient civs slogging through the textbook on a chronological forced march. So, I decided that this year I’d try something new, & study the topic conceptually. I think that it might be interesting to study civilization itself, as in government, culture, economy, technology, etc. & use the relevant ancient civilizations as examples of the general concept."<br />
<br />
And: "The problem of authority in education, & society in general, is an issue we need to pay attention to. I’ve been reading a lot about anarchism, & I think there may be some useful lessons to be drawn between that history & education reform. More to come."

"Whether disappearance of environments and dioramas reflects a change in how we learn or evolving curator tastes is unclear, but the shift is both noteworthy and something of a shame. Though it has motivated Ross to take his camera back into museums. "In the future, the whole concept of textbook learning may change so drastically that the need for an individual diorama that captures a moment of space, time, and environment may not be there any more," says Ross. "We're not there yet, though. Right now, we're in a transit, and the dioramas have distinctly changed.""

"So let us understand that this is a global project that began 40 years ago, was tested, refined – if you want to use that word – imposed on Africa, Asia, and Latin America by the World Bank. ... What’s the project? Here are the contours: Privatization, fragmentation of oversight and regulation and creation of individual schools, standardized testing, and assault on teachers’ unions. Those are the 4 pillars of this project. ... So I’m gonna quote for you from something called...The World Development Report 2002... The analysis is the following: The market is the best regulator of all services, and the state, the welfare state causes problems by intruding on free choice. Next, the global economy requires that workers from every country compete with others for jobs. And since most people will be competing with workers in other countries for jobs requiring little formal education, money spent on a highly educated workforce is wasted. In other words, most jobs are in Walmarts."

"When the administrator got the phone call from the parent who wanted to set up the meeting, she asked for some sense of what the problem was. The reply? “Our students don’t need to be a part of a classroom experiment with all this technology stuff. They need to have a real teacher with real textbooks and real tests.”"

"social & technological networks subvert the classroom-based role of the teacher. Networks thin classroom walls. Experts are no longer “out there” or “over there”. Skype brings anyone, from anywhere, into a classroom. Students are not confined to interacting with only the ideas of a researcher or theorist...The largely unitary voice of the traditional teacher is fragmented by the limitless conversation opportunities available in networks. When learners have control of the tools of conversation, they also control the conversations in which they choose to engage. Course content is similarly fragmented. The textbook is now augmented with YouTube videos, online articles, simulations, Second Life builds, virtual museums, Diigo content trails, StumpleUpon reflections, and so on...The following are roles teacher play in networked learning environments: 1. Amplifying 2. Curating 3. Wayfinding and socially-driven sensemaking 4. Aggregating 5. Filtering 6. Modelling 7. Persistent presence"

"This is how history is made — or rather, how the hue and cry of the present and near past gets lodged into the long-term cultural memory or else is allowed to quietly fade into an inaudible whisper. Public education has always been a battleground between cultural forces; one reason that Texas’ school-board members find themselves at the very center of the battlefield is, not surprisingly, money. The state’s $22 billion education fund is among the largest educational endowments in the country. Texas uses some of that money to buy or distribute a staggering 48 million textbooks annually — which rather strongly inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead."

"Would a real person need to solve this problem?...the solution realistic?...using a system of 2 equations?...in what ways does this problem help our students become better problem solvers?"...problem you will only find in a textbook...bizarre...how many different ways just 50 words can fail to square with reality. Why does each chaperone have to drive? Why can't we take 5 vans? Why do our vehicles have to seat the exact number of people in our group & no more?...Algebra teachers sell students a cheap distortion of the real world while insisting at the same time that it really is the real world. The cognitive dissonance is obvious & terrible. Students know the difference. It cheapens my relationship to them & their relationship to mathematics when you ask me to lie to them...Not only are the short-term consequences devastating but it makes that person distrustful or wary of the real thing. Make no mistake. We are making an alien of algebra. We are doing real damage here."

"Inkling makes it easy to bring rich, interactive learning content to tablet devices like iPad. Inkling engages students and provides authors and publishers with an exciting new way to bring content to market. It’s more than just the best digital textbook experience ever. It’s the best learning experience ever."

"Forget old-fashioned infrastructure. Here are six government projects to foster a lasting economic recovery...Climb poles for wireless...Dig fiber ditches...Sequence proteins...Lighten backpacks [digitize textbooks]...Scan medical records...Require TOU meters...The technology is starting to roll out (with some stimulus money) in the form of Time of Use (TOU) meters replacing those ugly glass bulbs with spinning disks. Coupled with wireless in-house devices that show appliance electrical usage in real time and clever software at utilities, I'd bet peak usage would drop 30% and educate a million workers on the workings of the future smart electric grid. Beats subsidies for caulking windows."

"The authors of the Kaiser report attribute the decline in elective reading to greater amounts of homework; reading is viewed as work, so leisure becomes an escape from work. It's worth asking, then, what happens in these late elementary and middle school years to turn reading into labor — and one answer must surely be the prominence of textbooks. In most schools, education becomes divided along subject lines, and these subjects are taught through comprehensive (and extremely expensive) textbooks.

"A New Approach to College Textbooks. Finally.

"As you know if you follow my Twitter stream, I’ve been reading A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I got interested in the book when there was a flurry of letters to the editor in the local paper about a local high school using it in AP history. Apparently the “America First” crowd around here can’t take any viewpoint that deviates from the whitewashed version of history that we got in school.

"From government to non-profit organizations, teachers to textbook publishers, we all have a role to play in leveraging 21st century technology to expand learning and better serve California's students, parents, teachers and schools. This initiative will ensure our schools know which digital textbooks stand up to California's academic content standards - so these cost-effective resources can be used in our schools to help ensure each and every student has access to a world-class education." - Governor Schwarzenegger

"CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the "FlexBook," CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning."

"Indeed, we might even go so far as to identify as one of the most crucial tasks in a democratic society the act of limiting the power that corporations have in determining what happens in, and to, our schools. Not long ago, as historian Joel Spring pointed out, you would have been branded a radical (or worse) for suggesting that our educational system is geared to meeting the needs of business. Today, corporations not only acknowledge that fact but freely complain when they think schools aren’t adequately meeting their needs. They are not shy about trying to make over the schools in their own image. It’s up to the rest of us, therefore, to firmly tell them to mind their own businesses."

"Last fall, Woodlawn Elementary's math teachers locked up their textbooks in a music room closet. Faced with FCAT scores that figured in the school's D grade in 2007-08, the teachers decided to get radical and overhaul their math curriculum. It paid off. The school went from a D to a B this year, logging impressive gains on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, especially in math.

"Seth's assumption is the same as mine, and the underlying pretext of the eduBuzz platform: that teachers are paid to share their knowledge, not just with those students in front of them but with anyone in their learning communities, and sharing with this community will make us all better teachers and learners.

"From the beginning of the next school year in August, maths and science students in California's high schools will have access to online texts that have passed an academic standards review.

"Math students in high-performing school district used to rush through their Algebra I textbooks only to spend the first few months of Algebra II relearning everything they forgot or failed to grasp the 1st time...district’s frustrated math teachers decided to rewrite algebra curriculum, limiting it to about 1/2 of the 90 concepts typically covered in a high school course in hopes of developing a deeper understanding of key topics...replacing 1,000+ page math textbooks with their own custom-designed online curriculum...“In America, we run through chapters like a speeding train. Schools in Singapore & India spend more time on each topic & their kids do better. We’re boiling down math to the essentials.”...students focus only on linear functions in Algebra I, taught in 7th, 8th or 9th grade depending on student ability & leave quadratics & exponents to Algebra II, eliminating overlap & repetition typical of most textbooks & curriculum guidelines...result=less review+higher test scores"

"'Considering how many fools can calculate, it is surprising that it should be thought either a difficult or tedious task for any other fool to learn how to master the same tricks.' By far the best opening line for a math text ever written. Now released from copyright restrictions you can download a copy, visit the scribd.com version, or read it here. I think I'm going to use this as the text for my High School Calculus class next year and perhaps as a supplemental text for my AP Calculus students. "

"Sadler and Tai have previously hinted at where this was going. In 2001 they reported that students who did not use a textbook in high school physics—an indication that their teachers disdained hitting every topic — achieved higher college grades than those who used a textbook.

"Art of Problem Solving texts offer a challenging curriculum in problem solving mathematics for strong math students in grades 6-12. The bookstore also offers a variety of other books from prominent competitions, such as MOEMS, MATHCOUNTS, and the AMC." "Art of Problem Solving online classes allow top students from around the world to hone their problem solving skills. Ideal for gifted math students in grade 6-12 who seek a greater challenge in mathematics, and those students preparing for MATHCOUNTS, the AMC, or other prominent mathematics contests."

"Warning: DON'T BUY THIS BOOK if you are uncomfortable with unfinished work! This is version zero, much of the content is still in a vague and formative stage. Marks and meaning is a work in progress; an evolving exploration of visual language, visual thinking and visual work practices by the founder and Chairman of XPLANE, the visual thinking company. An unfinished work, it's a hybrid: part sketchbook, part textbook, part workbook, and continuously updated by the author, based on feedback and conversations with readers. This is version zero: the first version available to the public."

"In 1964 the eminent physicist Richard Feynman served on the State of California's Curriculum Commission and saw how the Commission chose math textbooks for use in California's public schools. In his acerbic memoir of that experience, titled "Judging Books by Their Covers," Feynman analyzed the Commission's idiotic method of evaluating books, and he described some of the tactics employed by schoolbook salesmen who wanted the Commission to adopt their shoddy products."

"CK-12 Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in January 2007, aims to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the US and worldwide. Using a collaborative and web-based compilation model that can be manifested as an adaptive textbook - termed the "FlexBook" - CK-12 intends to pioneer the creation and distribution of high quality educational web texts both as traditional print and online medium. At the same time, CK-12 hopes to use the leverage that open source models, like Linux software and Wikipedia encyclopedia, have used to continually improve regionally and temporally relevant content."

"The complete contents of this algebra textbook are available here online. This text is suitable for high-school Algebra I, preparing for the GED, a refresher for college students who need help preparing for college-level mathematics, or for anyone who wants to learn introductory algebra. I am especially pleased to help homeschoolers."

"The target age of this title is 8-12 years old. Section titles will include major groups of people or substantial empires in ancient times. The print version will focus only on answering a specific series of questions about selected civilizations. There will be an introduction and a basic discussion of archaeology.

"Flat World's business plan aims to exploit the inefficiencies: Its books are online and free. Instead of charging for content it aims to make money by wrapping content up in "convenient" downloadable and print wrappers and selling those, along with study aides and related items."

"Earlier this week Crunchgear broke the news on two new upcoming Kindle models: a smaller form factor Kindle to be released this year ahead of the holidays, and a large screen (probably 8.5×11) to come sometime next year. A couple of commenters in that post have pointed out that the large screen Kindle is perfect to target the college/university textbook market, a $5.5 billion market annually in the U.S. alone."

"This online textbook is being created by Clay Burell's grade 9 Modern World History class in Seoul, South Korea"

"to share information about The Feynman Lectures on Physics: *stories of how The Feynman Lectures on Physics influenced your life (or others') *physics/math problems and their solutions *URL's (links) relevant to The Feynman Lectures on Physics "

"Written in English, over 1500 pages are provided for students, teachers, and for anybody who is curious about the precise description of nature. To satisfy even the most extreme curiosity, the text ends by exploring the limits of time and space, and the

""Story of Science" series by Joy Hakim tells the history of science with wit, narrative depth and research, all vetted by specialists at the MIT...series, which has drawn acclaim, chronicles not only great discoveries but also the scientists who made the

"OER are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course

"State gives publishers until spring to fix 109,263 math mistakes"

"We are dedicated to bringing you great multimedia and course materials that can help you with your homework and studies."

"The Process of Research Writing is a web-based research writing textbook (or is that textweb?) suitable for teachers and students in research oriented composition and rhetoric classes."

"You, too, can be an autodidact; the breadth of free educational materials available online is absolutely astonishing."

"I was leafing through my fifth-grader’s new maths book and was impressed to see that in a few months time she’ll be learning to use a spreadsheet!"