Too easy to duplicate. The cost of textbooks is obscene. I don't think a publisher is going to sacrifice that kind of profit to put it on a medium that can be reproduced for twenty-five cents on a home PC.You're assuming every kid has access to a computer at his desk and at home.
I agree about the books, though. My daughter's backpack is way too heavy.
Too easy to duplicate. The cost of textbooks is obscene. I don't think a publisher is going to sacrifice that kind of profit to put it on a medium that can be reproduced for twenty-five cents on a home PC.Because the textbook industry is the biggest scam going.
Because it's a lot cheaper for my taxes to buy books.
A friend of my daughter carries a 30 pound backpack and continually complains about her back hurting. I suggested she use a rolling backpack. My suggestion was knocked because rolling backpacks aren't *cool*.
Can you imagine trying to do homework on the computer. My browser would be open to FR instead of studying!
If the textbooks are not too new, you may be able to buy a set of used (cheap) books for use at home. I did this with a few of my daughters' textbooks and it helped somewhat.
There are interesting things underway in this area. Textbook publishers have long had an INCESTUOUS relationship with the educational powers that be....and the 99th edition of a college algebra text is no better than the first--except for the bookstore and publisher's bottom lines by obsoleting and hindering re-use by those who would 'save trees' and recycle/share. The books for the K-12 are mostly bought by departments...and are subject to any district/NEA unwritten criteria re: homosexuality, Gaia worship, omission of any POSITIVE Judeo-Christian historical facts...except where school board memberss are all over this like...hmmm, Hawks on Rats. Texas just helped protect the definition of "Marriage" by one board members' watchful eye....
Profs and teachers are routinely authoring books and profiting off them in addition to their salaries, commonly requiring their own books as for the taking of required courses....one wonders how much one must toe the NEA line to win a lucrative publishing contract?
CDs and Distance Learning and computers at home and PDAs with interactive lessons...oh, My! If they really did that WHOLEHEARTEDLY--they wouldn't have to have all the buses and campus facilities for factory indoctrination...but they don't WANT that...WE SHOULD.
SchoolForge.net is Open Source and one thought towards breaking the publishing stranglehold. I have a number of others but will not post them publicly here at this time.
From their site: Schoolforge's mission is to unify independent organizations that advocate, use, and develop open resources for primary and secondary education. Schoolforge is intended to empower member organizations to make open educational resources more effective, efficient, and ubiquitous by enhancing communication, sharing resources, and increasing the transparency of development. Schoolforge members advocate the use of open source and free software, open texts and lessons, and open curricula for the advancement of education and the betterment of humankind.
http://www.schoolforge.net/
The main problem is Digital Rights Management (piracy). The second problem is the lack of a convenient and non-prohibitive platform to use the text books in digital form.
I'm in favor of the eBook devices, though I'm quite non-plussed by the way that the current manufacturers have gone about pricing, selling, and marketing them.
Often eBook makers and content providers tend to team up leaving the consumer with little or no options.
An open standard for digital publications with a secure digital rights management system, coupled with a flexible and easy to use reading device would reduce the text book load from 3-5 text books to a single device weighing less than a pound. Integration of said device with a school network and teachers will be able to load homework directly into the machines, and then download the homework from the machines.
With the proliferation of school sponsored laptop programs, the eBook device shouldn't be too many years behind. All that remains is for a company to come along and convince publishers that their solution will guarantee their profits, and accessibility to current and new markets.
I would love input from my fellow FReepers on how the textbook manufacturing industry might be convinced to change how they do things and incorporate CD distribution into their business models."
Take it to the next level, for get the CDs instead of 5 or more $50.00 text books printed on dead trees get a PalmOne Zire 31 Handheld and go totally digital. You can have the authors bypass all of the middlemen and download the books (at school) Directly for a fraction of the cost and the author ends up making more! Plus the Palm can loaded with TEST software and the students can take the test directly ob their Palms (or whatever PDA is chosen) and Beam it (via built in infrared beamer) to the teachers machine thus saving time, effort, loads of money, and lots of trees.
But it won't happen because mucho wasted tax dollars and many layers of Bureaucracy would be eliminated and as we all know we can't have "that" in any government program.
Textbooks are a major scam. I teach in a college, and will post details tonight.
At least for college, you can't buy a used CD-ROM that has already been highlighted and underlined.
What would be the benefit to the publisher to put the books on CD? I can not think of any...
Computer monitors aren't as easy to read as books, eye fatigue could be a problem. Also notes are harder to take on a computer.
I have a better idea. Have kids do their school work at school, so they learn to use their time wisely, and don't grow up to be workaholics. Many years ago I had a friend who went off to a good British boarding school (her parents were British). They had to do all their studying in a study hall during a scheduled time called "preps". They were not permitted to take school books back to their dorms with them at the end of the day.
Somehow info presented on a screen just isn't as readable or coherent; it is usually poorly designed (ugly) and overly terse.
For starters.
--Boris