[A2k] California approves free Digital Textbooks for math and science

[Manon Ress]

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/08/12/califdigitaltextbooks=
_ap.html?tkn=3DSVZFF1WUPPn2p%2BEvRHHte1Bns7kwSTt%2FNWcT
Calif. Approves Digital Textbooks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) =97 State education officials on Tuesday named the
first 10 digital textbooks that meet California academic standards for
high school math and science.

The electronic textbooks, available for use as soon as this fall, were
among the first reviewed as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Free
Digital Textbook Initiative.

The "open source" material was reviewed by a state education panel to
help school districts identify online learning resources. Electronic
textbooks for other subjects will be reviewed in coming months.

Of the 16 digital textbooks reviewed, 10 met at least 90 percent of
California's high school math and science standards, according to the
governor's office. Three of the four that met 100 percent of the
standards were published by the nonprofit CK-12 Foundation in Palo Alto.

The governor is promoting free digital textbooks to help cash-strapped
districts save money and create interactive learning environments in
California, where the government has been forced to make drastic cuts
to education funding.

But some experts say many California schools don't have enough
computers or teachers trained in online learning to fully take
advantage of digital textbooks.

State officials counter that even classrooms without computers for
every student can still use electronic textbooks, which can be
downloaded, viewed on a computer monitor, projected on a screen or
printed out.

Bill Habermehl, Orange County's superintendent of schools, said the
governor's initiative will help accelerate the shift toward online
learning by validating the academic content in digital textbooks.

"Our problem is going to be funding," Habermehl said. "We have
countries we look at as Third World using digital textbooks more than
California." ___

On the Net:

Free Digital Textbook Initiative: http://www.clrn.org/fdti/




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Manon Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673