As any student knows (and I presume anyone reading this was at one time a student, probably one that had to buy their own books at some point) Textbooks suck. Now they don't suck per se. But the industry that surrounds them does. they are insanely expensive, and the markets that keep them that way function by more than the Invisible Hand. I detest this criminal conspiracy.
Therefore, it was with great joy that I read this:
"A high school in Vail will become the state's first all-wireless, all-laptop public school this fall. The 350 students at the school will not have traditional textbooks. Instead, they will use electronic and online articles as part of more traditional teacher lesson plans."
Bravo! Make the teachers work to find sources to teach from. Let them create a lesson plan that isn't dominated by some textbook author's whims. And allow the kids to study like kids study nowadays, with their computers.
Let this work well, and other school systems, desperate to cut costs, will surely follow.
Posted by danisaacs at July 11, 2005 10:54 AM | TrackBackYou know this is going to die a quick and painful death... This means that different opinions are going to come into the classroom, something that normal teachers are afraid to handle since there are kids out there who will run circles around them in a debate. Social Studies will be the first class to revert, then math, then science...
I would love for this to happen, but I know how the teachers and their unions would love to maintain more of the status quo.
Posted by: Brian on July 11, 2005 03:32 PMI disagree. You'd be suprised how much teachers hate textbooks. I can only speak to you as an individual certified to teach Mathematics in the state of Ohio (for 3 more months, anyway). And I only worked in a school for 6 months. And my brother has only been teaching HS for 4 years now. So what would I know...
Posted by: Mr. Isaacs on July 11, 2005 08:04 PMNot doubting your experience, but I'm talking about the tenured, onlysixmoreyearstoretirement crowd who usually makes up the "textbook committees" which lately involve lots of meetings over the definition of the word "is". I've seen them in action as a parent and as a family member and while teachers are young and idealistic now; I honestly think the only change you might see will be an electronic text with some outside linking to "editorially approved" sites. Essentially you'll have a updateable version of the same textbooks...
Now wait until the DMCA comes into play when students start hacking the licenses. :-)
Posted by: Brian on July 11, 2005 11:14 PM