Just read this article from Education Week (CLICK HERE), and it got me excited about the future of textbooks. Personally, I am struggling with the notion of spending money, from an already tight budget, on textbooks. Why? Because I feel (and hope) we are on the cusp of heading towards a digital curriculum. The idea of paying teachers to spend time writing their own digital textbooks is awesome!
One, it would save the district some money (theoretically-I don't really have hard numbers). But that's not the best part. Our teachers are experts about the content in their classrooms. Who better to write the textbook? I know I value the expertise of our teachers. This would be perfect! There would be no wasted chapters. The information would be relevant and up to date. It would be a living document. We would have the ability to update, transform and recreate, as we get data back from formative assessments.
If done right, this could revolutionize local education. Real life, relevant problems could be used in the text. I'm excited! Tell me what you think!
I like this idea. Not sure all teachers could handle a project of this magnitude. What do you think of khan academy?
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