Arnold Schwarzenegger's Open Source Textbook Plan Could Use Funding
by Sam Dean - May. 11, 2009Comments (2)- Related Blog Posts
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At OStatic, we've written on several occasions about how schools could benefit from adopting open source software solutions--an effort already going on in many parts of the world. We've also reported on the multi-billion dollar U.S. market for textbooks, and the huge cost savings that could be reaped by educational institutions if they pursue open source textbooks. Now, as Ars Technica reports, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched an inititative to compile open source textbooks for the state, which is experiencing a budget crisis. The initiative faces an uphill battle, but shows a lot of promise, especially if it gets funding.
According to Ars Technica, Schwarzenegger wants the state to develop digital open source textbooks for high school math and science classes. Books would be available for free, and the following moves are underway:
"Schwarzenegger has tasked California Secretary of Education Glen Thomas with making sure that the new textbooks are ready for deployment in fall 2009. Thomas will be collaborating with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the president of the State Board of Education."
The report also quotes Schwarzenegger:
"As California's budget crisis continues we must find such innovative ways to save money and improve services. California was built on innovation and I'm proud of our state's continued leadership in developing education technology. This first-in-the-nation initiative will reduce education costs, help encourage collaboration among school districts and help ensure every California student has access to a world-class education."
There have been previous failed efforts in California to introduce low-cost and free textbooks compiled and edited on an open source basis, and California's strict educational policies have struck them down. If Governor Schwarzenegger really wants this latest initiative to come to fruition, the best course of action may be to build a commercial model similar to the one that Flat World Knowledge is pursuing for open source college textbooks.
Flat World Knowledge has $8 million in Series A venture funding behind its efforts to produce open source textbooks. The books that Flat World Knowledge is working on will be free online, or students will be able to download them for $20--far below the cost of most textbooks. The company's funding can help control the quality of the books, through paid editors, and the material in them can still be crowdsourced out to an enthusiastic community of content providers.
California currently spends more than $400 million per year for K-12 classes alone on textbooks from traditional providers. Surely, given the right deals made with venture capital firms and perhaps a provider like Flat World Knowledge, the state could spend far smaller amounts of money to get access to high-quality open source textbooks. I'm positive that an enthusiastic community of volunteers would step up to help with such an initiative.
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