Open Stax College = Open Source Textbooks

First off let me hit you with this: .
What do I keep saying about open source text books? They are the wave of the future. There are many cases for them including the fact that the knowledge in all text books is basically the same, (for math, english and history, it generally does not change), text books from major publishers are expensive (and schools are seeing their funding cut left and right) and they are copywritten for some reason (how do you copywrite addition, grammar and a year of the past?)
Here we have Open Stax an inititive of Rice University (the Ivy League of the South):

OpenStax College is a nonprofit organization committed to improving student access to quality learning materials. Our free textbooks are developed and peer-reviewed by educators to ensure they are readable, accurate, and meet the scope and sequence requirements of your course. Through our partnerships with companies and foundations committed to reducing costs for students, OpenStax College is working to improve access to higher education for all.

OpenStax College is an initiative of Rice University and is made possible through the generous support of several philanthropic foundations.

Psychology, Physics, Biology, Economics, Pre-Calculus to name a few. All Free all accessible. All students should at least give it a look to see if they can benefit from it in their current situation or future education, I shall be adding them to my personal collection of knowledge.

30 million in iPads for LA School district

I am not a fan of this. But perhaps there is something that I do not understand about it.
Full Article

The district is paying $678 per device — higher than tablets available in stores — but the computers will be preloaded with educational software. The price does not include a wireless keyboard, which may be necessary for older students.

I am perhaps looking at the glass half full, but with the students being able to take the machines home, the possibility for them to be stolen or broken seems to be high, especially in the underpriviledged neighborhoods they are supposed to be serving.
I also can’t help but think, “Couldn’t they have bough at least 6 brand new text books(or perhaps have funded open source text books for every student? and then bought something more economical and flexible such as kiosks and monitors for a 3rd of the price)?.
Even if you are going to go with tablets, is there not a more economical way to go that will prevent lock in?
How many adults have dropped their ipads and made them inoperable, and we are talking about children here… if they break, or lose the 3 free replacements (we are talking about kids) then are they then unable to participate? You can share books, but can you realistically share an ipad?
I understand that the world is moving towards something more electronic, but with the money crunch that education is always in, wouldn’t something more durable, and affordable be in order? Is there not a better way to reduce the technology gap in these children’s lives (a more technolgy based curriculum such as programming and development)? Books are not sexy anymore, but the reality is that they don’t require electricity or apps.

Open source text books in Cali

As we have mentioned before we are in favor of open source text books, and it looks like the state of California is too. This is a bold step that is surely going to be a win for students, since no one seems to be able to control the cost of tuition…

Friday, the California State Senate unanimously passed the first of its kind open educational resource digital library, or (OER), offering students free access to textbooks in the most commonly taken lower-division courses at public postsecondary institutions.

Thanks to the Sac Observer for the news: http://sacobserver.com/2012/09/california-passes-nations-first-open-source-textbook-legislation/