[Textbook-l] Problem with NPOV

[Robert Scott Horning]

Sanford Forte wrote:

>I want to second everything that Jimmy Wales has said. 
>
<*snip*>

>
>That said, it bears repeating that public K-12 schools in America  
>will generally adopt ONLY those books that have been peer reviewed at  
>the state level, and approved for having met each particular state's  
>individual curriculum requirements. (some states don't require  
>curriculum frameworks, but follow other state's standards - an issue  
>that relates to the private school scenario, mentioned below)
>
>Whether any of us agree with what those curriculum requirements are,  
>is entirely beside the point - as regards the success of the open  
>source effort in K-12 public schools in America. (it's a somewhat  
>different story in other countries, but challenging in somewhat  
>similar ways).
>
>If someone wants to write a non-standards-based approach to a K-12  
>subject for *private* schools, go right ahead. In doing so, be aware  
>that that open source book will NOT be adopted en masse, by any large  
>entity. It will be a one-at-a-time adoption, by one school at a time  
>(as by public schools in states without curriculum standards,  
>mentioned above)
>
>The great irony here is that many people who participate in open  
>source content directed at public education are thinking not only of  
>the efficiencies and economies that can be brought to the public  
>education enterprise, they are also passionately concerned with the  
>quality of the K-12 enterprise. The latter impulse tends to drive  
>open source projects to the imagined ideal for a particular topic,  
>rather than following the strict adherence to curriculum framework  
>rules mentioned above - with the ultimate result that the work  
>doesn't get considered for large-scale adoption What results is  
>something that the schools won't use.
>
>This is an irony because if we can simply find ways to play by the  
>framework rules to begin with, we will get books written, published,  
>and adopted, en masse. Once that's accomplished, it will provide an  
>opening into opportunities to impact curriculum with open source  
>curriculum materials. 
>
<*snip*>

>
>A final note: Content is no longer the problem - we now understand  
>what the content rules are, and need only to have the will to execute  
>projects based on those rules. The forward challenges for open source  
>K-12 publishing are constraints in content filtering, actual print  
>publishing, and effective distribution. Thus, the California Open  
>Source Textbook Project will continue - as it has in the last year -  
>to alter its primary focus from one of proselytizing for content  
>construction in specific ways, to a focus on innovative means to  
>solving the latter group of problems just mentioned. Stay tuned.
>
>Cheers,
>Sanford
>
>Sanford Forte, Director
>California Open Source Textbook Project
>Palo Alto, CA
>http://www.opensourcetext.org
>  
>

I want to point out here that there is a sort of disconnect between the 
typical users and participants of Wikibooks and those who are involved 
with academia.  The books that have been most popular on Wikibooks in 
terms of content development either have a strong technological 
orientation to them (the Technology and Computer Science bookshelves are 
quite full and have been subdivided several times over the history of 
Wikibooks) or are focused on linguistics.  Of these, I think it would be 
the linguistics books like [[b:German]] or [[b:Spanish]] that are 
perhaps closest to being ready for a K-12 academic standards and 
submitted for professional peer review such as what you have mentioned. 
 Even then, there is some final polish and meeting specific curriculum 
requirements that would prove to be useful if were to use these as 
formal textbooks.

As for the technology books, this is clearly an area where submittal to 
an academic review board is not needed for being widely used.  All you 
have to do is go down to your nearest bookstore and see a major 
technology section filled with similar kinds of books.  Already the 
[[b:Blender 3D]] book is one of the leading books of any kind on the 
(admittedly narrow) subject.  And there are some other gems that perhaps 
could use just a minor amount of polish and be usable in a college 
classroom environment.

So the question comes on how can Wikibooks be used to help push forward 
the development and publication of a K-12 school textbook.  I do believe 
that some changes could take place on a number of pages on Wikibooks 
(mainly introduction pages and perhaps even the front page) that would 
help encourage Wikibooks participants to try and meet specific academic 
requirements.  One thing to keep in mind is that Wikibooks participants 
come from a huge range of nationalities.  Of even just Americans working 
on Wikibooks, I'm not even sure that two regular participants are from 
the same state, which causes some minor problems in terms of trying to 
determine what academic standards ought to be met.

As far as finding ways to get physical publication of content 
accomplished, that is certainly something that I think applies not just 
to school textbooks, but almost all open source content in general.  New 
business rules will have to be developed, and perhaps even new laws 
enacted or at least new interpretations of existing copyright laws and 
how they apply with this sort of content as printed media.  While groups 
like Lulu Press certainly help out, building the infrastructure to get 
this working is not going to be easy and there are only skattered pieces 
available at the moment.


-- 
Robert Scott Horning