Serendipity35

I have already written a number of posts about e-textbooks, so let's count this one as just a quick update. Not that we should toss off as unimportant that the state of Virginia has now published a new open source physics textbook under a Creative Commons license.

I had first heard about the project on Slashdot last September and then last week I saw on Government Computer News that the beta version was released.

Some Quick Facts on the textbook:

• It is peer-reviewed
• took 6 months to produce
• had a team of authors (“active researchers, high school teachers, and college professors, as well as some retirees”)
• was launched on CK-12’s technology platform (CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in January 2007 with a mission "to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the US and worldwide, but also to empower teacher practitioners by generating or adapting content relevant to their local context.")
• can be easily revised
• can be produced at a low cost by publishers, and is
  free for students