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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