From mboylan at nsf.gov Tue Jun 6 06:09:42 2006
From: mboylan at nsf.gov (Boylan, Myles G.)
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 09:09:42 -0400
Subject: [Txtwksp] FW: Reconsidering the Textbook
Message-ID: <9D5D0E03F5E6FC4BAA299767F85FD131C32149@NSF-MBX-02.ad.nsf.gov>
Colleagues:
I received this interesting letter today from a commercial publisher who believes his firm, Kinetic Books, has ideally met our description of the textbook of the future. I would be interest in hearing from the physicists in the group what you think of this book. (Note that you can engage in a free online trial and also request desk copies.)
Thanks,
Myles Boylan
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Bretl [mailto:markb at kbooks.com]
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 3:58 PM
To: Boylan, Myles G.
Subject: Reconsidering the Textbook
Myles,
I read the summary of your workshop on "Reconsidering the Textbook" with great interest.
At Kinetic Books, we spent 5 years working on a digital textbook that would meet many of the criteria you talk about at the beginning of your "Imagining the future - " paragraph. We have also formed it somewhat like a textbook to help people "bridge the gap" when comparing topical coverage of our electronic texts. Each of our books contains hundreds of Java simulations, thousands of animations, hours of audio, video, spreadsheet models, self-assessment tools and, of course, thousands of end-of-chapter problems for the students to interact with. We agree with your statement that, "Creating learner engagement is key to learning" and we believe that such an implementation works in this regard.
We are also addressing the skyrocketing price of textbooks. Pricing starts at $24.95 for our Conceptual Physics text. This is roughly a quarter or less the cost of popular equivalent print textbooks.
I would be interested in understanding how to work with your group since you suggest that it be a "collaborative effort" between faculty and those in the "private sector."
I'm also interested in learning more about how to work with the NSF. People in the past have suggested we "just write a grant," but I would greatly appreciate your insights.
I have included more information on our products below.
A free online trial is available at http://www.kineticbooks.com/physics/trialpse/online_installer/downloads/install.php
Desk copies can be requested at http://www.kineticbooks.com/support/cdtrial.php
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Mark
Mark Bretl
Kinetic Books Company
2003 Western Ave
Suite 330
Seattle, WA 98121
www.kineticbooks.com
877-4KBOOKS (877-452-6657)
Kinetic Books is a Seattle, Washington company developing a fully integrated digital physics curriculum from the ground up. The two products we currently have are a set of textbooks and a set of computer based virtual labs. The textbook is a complete text covering all the topics you see from the top textbook vendors for an introductory two semester physics curricula. It is aimed at high school or college. It is developed in html, java and flash. After extensive focus group and classroom work with students (~6,000+) and instructors (~200+), the most common comments about the product are:
- Difficult concepts in physics are easily shown
- Students can "experience" more physics
- It makes physics more interactive, experimental and accessible
- Labs not available to students can now be done via the computer
It has been designed with multiple learning styles in mind (text, audio, physical manipulation, experimentation) to provide a self paced, self assessing approach to experimenting with and learning basic concepts as well as problem solving skills. It includes over 15 hours of audio, hundreds of interactive java simulations, thousands of animations, hundreds of interactive problems and the requisite end of chapter problem sets. The computer based labs can be used where normal lab equipment isn't affordable, in addition to hands on labs, preparation for hands on labs or as extended homework assignments.
Professors from University of Washington and PLU have been involved in ensuring the physics accuracy of the products.
As you review the product, please look for the following in the textbook:
1. Complete material coverage similar to all introductory physics texts.
1. Conceptual Physics - little math required
2. Principles of Physics - algebra / trig based
3. Physics for Scientists and Engineers - calculus based
2. "Illustrations" to the right are what we call whiteboards. These are generally animated explanations of the material which are also voice and text enabled.
3. These illustrations can also be interactive Java applets which invite the student to experiment with a topic or solve a specific problem.
4. Sample problems with clear and consistent approaches to problem solving.
5. Interactive Problems which allow the student to self assess their progress and provide aid if required by walking the student through the parts of the problem solution that they are having difficulty with.
6. Derivations: We don't often say, "The proof of which is left as an exercise to the reader." We bite off derivations on parabolic mirrors and Maxwell's equations with the same approach we use on the sample problems.
During the development of the product, we have implemented and tested the following tenets:
1. Provide the information in multiple forms to facilitate learning in multiple styles. In many cases, these styles are combined.
a. Text
b. Audio
c. Graphics
d. Animation
e. Kinesthetic exercises
f. Experimentation
g. Teamwork
h. (A simple example can be found by opening the whiteboard at the top of section 2.6 where you will hear an explanation of a position vs time graph while you watch the motion and see the creation of the graph simultaneously.)
2. Provide a consistent problem solving approach. You will see this approach in:
a. Sample problems
b. Interactive problems
c. Derivations
d. Interactive checkpoint problems
3. Frequent opportunities for the student to self-assess.
a. Interactive problems where a scenario is provided and the student can work out the answer and then watch a simulation to determine what effect the value entered has on the situation.
b. Checkpoint problems which walk the student through the problem solving methodology allowing them to solve the problem and / or ask for hints along the way.
4. Allow the student to self-pace learning
a. Forward, Replay and Back buttons on all whiteboards
b. Simulations that allow for experimentations
c. Checkpoint problems
A second product, the computer based labs, uses these principles to provide an experimental environment for:
1. Schools that can't afford lab equipment
2. Those who want to do experiments that aren't usually done in the lab (docking space ships, traveling at .9c, placing specific charges in electric fields, etc)
3. Pre-lab exercises to ensure preparation for the physical lab
4. Extended homework assignments
For the above reasons, and many others, we feel our new digital textbook takes a step forward in the realm of learning physics.
Mark Bretl
Kinetic Books Company
2003 Western Ave
Suite 330
Seattle, WA 98121
877-4KBOOKS (877-452-6657)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://serc.carleton.edu/pipermail/txtwksp/attachments/20060606/63e6c6dc/attachment.html
From paul.bierman at uvm.edu Tue Jun 13 08:25:03 2006
From: paul.bierman at uvm.edu (Paul Bierman)
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 11:25:03 -0400
Subject: [Txtwksp] Fwd: FYI
References: <061320061503.15476.448ED3C4000C53AD00003C742200762302990A08970E03D2040A0E080C0703@comcast.net>
Message-ID:
Hi Folks,
Check this one out! Thanks Mike.
P
Begin forwarded message:
> From: michael.mayhew at comcast.net
> Date: June 13, 2006 11:03:33 AM EDT
> To: pbierman at uvm.edu
> Subject: FYI
>
>
>
>
> http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i41/41b02001.htm
>> From the issue dated June 16, 2006
> POINT OF VIEW
> Beyond Google: What Next for Publishing?
>
>
> By KATE WITTENBERG
>
> While we have been busy attending conferences, workshops, and
> seminars on every possible aspect of scholarly communication,
> information technology, digital libraries, and e-publishing,
> students have been quietly revolutionizing the discovery and use of
> information. Their behavior, undertaken without consultation or
> attendance at formal academic events, urgently forces those of us
> in scholarly publishing to confront some fundamental questions
> about our organizations, jobs, and assumptions about our work.
>
> Most students today arrive at college assuming that a Google search
> is the first choice for doing research, that MySpace is the model
> for creating online content and building peer communities, and ?
> perhaps most important ? that multitasking with various electronic
> devices, often from remote locations, is the traditional way to do
> class work. The implications of those changes must transform our
> publishing strategies.
>
> If "digital natives" are the next audience for our scholarly
> resources, shouldn't we be thinking about new ways to organize,
> store, and deliver our content? In fact, is content even what we
> should be focusing on for this next generation of users, or are the
> tools, functionality, and access built on top of the content what
> are of real value?
>
> As publishers, we are going to have to adapt quickly and creatively
> if we wish to remain true to our missions as information
> professionals and yet be relevant to users. Are we ready?
>
> Until now we have not only controlled the development of content,
> but also its discovery and delivery. We can call copyright foul
> when the books or articles or teaching tools we publish are used in
> ways we haven't anticipated, and continue business as usual. We can
> keep our scholarly credentials pure by avoiding any venture that
> hints of cooperating with a commercial enterprise. We can frown on
> much of what students do with technology as "entertainment." Or we
> can think creatively about what comes next for publishing.
>
> Until now we have spent most of our energies in rear-guard actions:
> fighting Google over copyright infringement in its plans to
> digitize library books, for example. It's time to think "beyond
> Google."
>
> Going forward, our work must take a more experimental turn. We need
> to get serious about developing online publications that allow
> students to freely explore the vast array of content and tools
> available through the World Wide Web, while still allowing an
> appropriate level of guidance concerning how to select and evaluate
> the sources that they find. And we must look at methods to deliver
> and store content in ways that allow students to use their remote
> devices to access it and that work through and enhance the online
> communities where they spend so much of their time.
>
> To develop those, we need to initiate conversations with new
> players and new partners.
>
> In essence, the old model of working in a publishing industry that
> operates independently from other sectors of the information
> community is no longer effective. The concept of competing with
> those other industries and players for dominance in the user market
> has become not only pointless but also destructive, to our own
> organizations and to the information environment as a whole.
>
> Soon online-gaming companies, commercial search engines,
> manufacturers of electronic devices, and high-school students will
> become our advisers and collaborators. To understand the world in
> which students live and work, our market research will include
> arranging focus groups with teenagers, purchasing (and playing)
> video games, and observing college, high-school, and middle-school
> students socializing, studying, and relaxing.
>
> One strategy we could pursue involves meeting users on their own
> turf. Since we know that students are spending more and more time
> in social-networking environments like MySpace and Facebook,
> building complex communities and sharing musings and opinions on
> everything from new bands to favorite books, let's form a
> partnership with one of those companies to build a networking space
> focusing on the information needs of students. Such a site could
> enable dialogue and collaboration among its users, discussion of
> readings, and creation of multimedia class projects. Faculty
> members and librarians could create profiles of their own, with
> commentary on the subject under discussion, and users could decide
> how to integrate the content and tools we provide into the
> environment they create for themselves.
>
> Another potential partnership involves working with a commercial
> search engine to create edited, peer-reviewed content sections that
> could be found when exploring a specific topic. Publishers with
> editorial strength in a particular field ? public health, say, or
> Arabic language, or regional history ? could contract to build
> content portals in those topics for specific types and levels of
> readers, using their skills to identify, review, edit, and design
> the special sections and accompanying tools for the search engines.
> The search engines would benefit through improving their services
> and being able to promote the quality of what users discover;
> instead of worrying about that quality, publishers could help shape
> it ? and be paid for their work and related products.
>
> A third model involves online gaming, which is already beginning to
> attract significant attention among students and professionals.
> With their rich role-playing environments that fascinate so many
> players, games can be a powerful vehicle for learning. Multiplayer
> games like World of Warcraft require participants to develop skills
> in leadership, strategic thinking, team building, conflict
> management, and problem solving ? skills valued in teaching
> students and training professionals in a variety of fields. A
> partnership with one or more of the gaming companies could shape
> the next generation of textbooks and professional publications.
> Users could work as an online team, relying on hand-held devices,
> to access data and "play" games that, for example, allow them to
> test leadership styles or develop strategies or take on decision-
> making roles during a business or foreign-policy crisis.
>
> What all this means is that the lines between scholarly publishing
> and commercial ventures are blurring. Too many skills are required
> to meet the needs of our new users alone: We cannot be software
> developers, educators, librarians, search-engine specialists, and
> designers of commercial Web sites all by ourselves.
>
> Thus a number of things are clear: First, partnerships are the
> critical element in developing effective and relevant resources for
> the next generation of information users. Second, we need to face
> the fact that commercial search engines are now the mechanism of
> choice for finding information, and we desperately need Google and
> other powerful players in the search-engine field to help users
> find our content and services. We must begin treating such players
> as valued partners with whom we will negotiate effective ways of
> collaborating that benefit our businesses and our users. Finally,
> we know users are becoming used to communicating in sophisticated,
> interactive, and collaborative online environments, and therefore
> that the traditional forms for publishing content are at risk of
> becoming irrelevant if they do not evolve.
>
> Keep in mind that we are all mutually dependent, and that no group
> is in a position to dictate the discussions or the outcomes: Search
> engines need the content provided by publishers and libraries to
> provide a high-quality experience for users; libraries need stable,
> robust technology platforms, wide use of their collections, and
> growing communities of new users; scholars and students need more
> effective access to information and the skills to determine its
> quality and value. So it is alarming that those groups are so often
> in conflict that they end up in court rather than at a conference
> table.
>
> At the moment, it is not clear what the exact models of cooperation
> will look like. And it is not clear who the leaders who step up to
> meet the challenge will be. What is clear is that we must identify
> or, if necessary, recruit such people and place them in positions
> of leadership and authority in the scholarly-publishing field.
>
> To move forward, we will need the ability to understand our users
> and their changing behavior, a willingness to experiment with new
> business models, and an appreciation of hybrid organizations that
> take advantage of skills contributed by various players with
> diverse backgrounds. Leadership of such a team will require an
> understanding of each of those players and the value of their
> contributions, as well as a clear and imaginative view of the
> future information landscape. It will be difficult. But the next
> generation will create new models of scholarly publishing whether
> or not we choose to participate. The only question will be what
> role we carve out for ourselves.
>
> Kate Wittenberg is director of EPIC, the Electronic Publishing
> Initiative at Columbia.
>
> http://chronicle.com
> Section: The Chronicle Review
> Volume 52, Issue 41, Page B20
> Copyright ? 2006 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
>
> Subscribe | About The Chronicle | Contact us | Terms of use |
> Privacy policy | Help
Paul Bierman pbierman at uvm.edu
UVM Geology Dept. Delehanty Hall
180 Colchester Avenue Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-4411( v) 802-656-0045 (fax)
uvm.edu/~pbierman
uvm.edu/perkins/landscape
uvm.edu/cosmolab
uvm.edu/irwe
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://serc.carleton.edu/pipermail/txtwksp/attachments/20060613/a0f4aef8/attachment.html