That is why the flexibility of the free books produced by http://www.ck12.org/ are so much better than the "30 year old models". The teacher can choose which chapters are going to be included in the book. Many of the books include multimedia such as the Khan academy videos, so the teacher can flip the classroom. Flipping the classroom means the teacher assigns the student to watch the video "lecture" portion of the class at home. The student can watch it as many times as they like and rewind it if they miss or don't understand something that was said. When the student is in school the teacher then has the student do the traditional homework or hands-on practical projects which utilize the concepts while the teacher is there to assist and guide the student if they run into difficulty. The CK12.org books also have links to other websites which support, enhance and reinforce the concepts for the students. These books are FREE and under a Creative Commons share alike license. They can be downloaded to various electronic devices like a computer, iPod touch, iPhone, Droid, Kindle, Nook, or downloaded as a PDF and printed. The students can highlight and notate directly in them and can keep the books for later reference before the high stakes tests that drive our current educational system. If the word can get out to the schools I see it as a disruptive technology to the current textbook industry. Let your school district know about this option. In these tough economic times, the potential savings for districts are real while providing a quality product to the student.
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That is why the flexibility of the free books produced by http://www.ck12.org/ are so much better than the "30 year old models". The teacher can choose which chapters are going to be included in the book. Many of the books include multimedia such as the Khan academy videos, so the teacher can flip the classroom. Flipping the classroom means the teacher assigns the student to watch the video "lecture" portion of the class at home. The student can watch it as many times as they like and rewind it if they miss or don't understand something that was said. When the student is in school the teacher then has the student do the traditional homework or hands-on practical projects which utilize the concepts while the teacher is there to assist and guide the student if they run into difficulty. The CK12.org books also have links to other websites which support, enhance and reinforce the concepts for the students. These books are FREE and under a Creative Commons share alike license. They can be downloaded to various electronic devices like a computer, iPod touch, iPhone, Droid, Kindle, Nook, or downloaded as a PDF and printed. The students can highlight and notate directly in them and can keep the books for later reference before the high stakes tests that drive our current educational system. If the word can get out to the schools I see it as a disruptive technology to the current textbook industry. Let your school district know about this option. In these tough economic times, the potential savings for districts are real while providing a quality product to the student.