People keep saying that textbooks need to get off paper, online, be interactive, customizable, and easy to change. That ideal vision is a long way off. But it's getting closer.
Last year the math teachers from the Arlington Central School District wrote and published online, for free, an Algebra 1 e-text that is aligned with the New York Integrated Algebra standards. They began using it last year and were happy with their results. Each lesson includes work to complete in class and a 1-page homework. You could, theoretically, print the whole thing out and make copies for your students and use it to drive your entire course. I imagine homeschoolers could make great use of it, too.
Today I learned that one of the architects of the Algebra project, Kirk Weiler, has published a similar e-textbook for Algebra 2. This time, it's the first offering of his company emathinstruction.com. The book is still free, but he plans to charge for things like an answer key.
I have mixed feelings here. I'm very impressed by the amount of work and thought that went into the Algebra 1 book. It's well paced and sequenced and the examples they chose to illustrate the concepts are top-notch. The integration with graphing calculator technology is seamless. I'm sure the Algebra 2 book is similarly impressive though I haven't had time to look through it yet. I had the opportunity to see Kirk speak around a year and a half ago when they were wrapping up the Algebra 1 book and he is a smart, smart, enthusiastic, engaging guy. (I said "smart" twice on purpose. He's really smart.) It's amazing to have free books that hit all the state standards, no more no less. And yet...pdfs? That I can't change? To download and print out? One lesson at a time? On paper? It feels a bit web 1.0. However, within the paper textbook paradigm, I don't think you could do any better.
10 comments:
Kate,
Thanks for this wonderful resource. I am going to be out this Friday and I found a great assignment that goes right along with what we are studying right now. Now, I don't have to make up an assignment for them to do on my own!
How big are the books? Printing PDFs at 2-10 cents a page can end up costing as much as a hardbound textbook.
How do the algebra books compare with the "Art of Problem Solving" algebra texts, which seem to go much deeper than the other Algebra 1 and 2 texts I've seen.
Hi Kevin -
Not sure! I didn't count all the pages. But an added benefit is that the kids can write in them.
I'm not familiar with the Art of Problem Solving books.
As a private-school parent who has to buy all my kid's textbooks (and replace them when they get lost), I'm more sensitive than many parents or teachers about the price of texts.
I don't mind the price so much when the books are really good, but I resent having to pay hundreds of dollars for trash.
The Art of Problem Solving books are among the few that I've seen that are worth the investment. They're not dumbed down the way so many texts are now. Check them out if you get an opportunity.
That's interesting, I didn't know that private school families had to pay for books in addition to tuition. Do parents ever get any input in textbook selection?
Depends on the private school. At my son's previous school, the tuition covered all the books (including ones that only one student was using). At that school parents who knew something about the texts could have a considerable influence. I got the school to change to using the Singapore Primary Math series as their main math books, and they provided the Art of Problem Solving Geometry book for my son when he got to the end of the curriculum they had.
At his current school, with much higher tuition, texts are not included, and parents have little impact on anything that happens at the school, being limited essentially to party planning activities and support for the drama classes.
you can read pdf's in google reader for hecksake.
lots of other formats too i imagine. and getting
smaller, cheaper, faster. long *live* pdf's say i.
(here's 67 pages of pdf lecture notes.)
maybe i spoke to soon. this is more
of a "set of worksheets" to my eyes
than "textbook" (which is a good thing).
you more or less *have* to write your notes
on these pages for 'em to be used as designed.
what i get for replying to your interesting post
before actually following its links...
Hi Kate,
Thanks for pointing me to these. I was impressed enough to pass it along to my department!
I teach in a private/independent school and our students do buy their own textbooks. We haven't had any parents ask for input in our book choice (that I know of), but we are in the process of changing texts and we are super conscious of price, our own curriculum and how well the book aligns with it, and if the book has an e-version.
We have talked about writing our own books, which would solve all problems, and I think in the next few years this will actually happen.
Sam
Sam that's exciting - sounds like a daunting but rewarding project. I think we will see more schools and districts taking that route as people become more fed up with paying through the nose for substandard texts. Or alternatively making use of work like the Arlington text or the Singapore math books. I hope you post about your progress.
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