Ryan, (and Laurent), On 10/5/05, rpenner(a)mail.utexas.edu <rpenner(a)mail.utexas.edu> wrote: The one who opened his mouth was me, but the idea seems pretty obvious and I am sure that someone else would have said something soon if I hadn't. It has been a collaboration from the very beginning, with the faceless tech guys at Wikipedia who set up the software to Maveric149 who bought the domain name space to each person who has dedicated time to writing and editing textbook modules, and especially Jimmy Wales who got Wikipedia started and was the one who gave the go-ahead for the Wikibooks project. I started writing my OChem book on Wikipedia at the beginning of the summer 03 quarter at Cleveland State University, and on July 10, 2003 the new site went up. The delay was probably a month. When the site started it had no content, and now it has 11,600+ modules in English and several thousand more in other languages, although like Wikipedia, English has the most developed content. The vision that I had when I started Wikibooks was that we would eventually have free versions of textbooks in all subjects at all levels from preschool to the most advanced postgraduate, any and every subject that traditional textbooks currently serve. My idea is that when there is a good base of information for a book, that is, a decent book all developed and online at the site, teachers and students can use that information online, people can print out hard copies to distribute and sell, but that individuals can also take the content and modify it for their very private uses. A teacher can decide which modules to use, what order to use them in, pick between different modules that serve more or less the same purpose, etc. And of course, for the person who is already well served by a traditional textbook, he or she can use the wikitext just as it is, without those laborious changes. My dream is that when any book is finished and online, new developments can be included as they happen, and the texts can avoid the problem of traditional texts that get outdated fast. Also the fact that it is all online means that you can use multimedia right there in your computer and otherwise interact more than with a printed book. Another great thing about it all is that errors are corrected in real time so, unlike traditional books, when errors are there they can be pointed out and corrected. Also, students can take an active part in their own education by writing about the things that they are learning about, especially while the project is relatively new and there are huge holes in content still. Teachers can work together and decide as a team what material to include and how to present it, and even have different options for students with different learning styles. We now know that different learners have quite different preferences for their own learning, and having alternative modules customized for a couple of different styles of learners, with localized examples, cultural sensitivity according to the end user, the list goes on and on. Part of the answer is above. The answer is absolutely YES. In fact, it was a university level book that was the first to be started. I think that study guides are a natural first step, and a study guide fleshed out could become the outline of a whole textbook. The material will depend on the quality of the contributions made. The more teachers, professors, involved students, and other experts we can have involved, the better the quality of the books and other teaching materials. Jimmy Wales has focused in on the benefits for the developing world and I agree, but I also think these texts can make learning better for users in the developed world, too. My original, immediate goal was to work with and help out other pre-med students in the US developing college-level science texts. I think that the more the students are involved in the process, and the teachers, the better the final product can be. No problem, I hope that these answers help you out! Have a great day, Karl >-Ryan Penner >Daily Texan