Re: [Foundation-l] Rethinking brands

>I was under the impression that wikibooks would also include textbooks for
>k-12.  Normally, k-3 don't have traditional texts because many are still
>learning to read.  Later, they read to learn.  So much of the "textbook" is
>really worksheets, pictures, and planned lectures and activities.  
>Actually,
>a better word to use for k-3 is curriculum, not textbooks. But I've read we
>are not supposed to do curriculum.

We do include books for younger children, and the youngest children (birth 
through age 12) are the target audience of wikijunior. Certainly the concept 
of a "textbook" is different when we are talking about kindergartners. 
However, if we define a textbook as "an instructional book to accompany a 
course of learning", we really have a lot of latitude.

>Soooo, I'm not sure what wikibooks really is.  Here is where I got my info:
>
>http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003069.shtml
>
>Although dated 8/05, it seems Mr. Wales had a definite vision:

Never seen that blog before, I'll have to read it.

>"The second thing that will be free is a complete curriculum (in all
>languages) from Kindergarten through the University level. There are 
>several
>projects underway to make this a reality, including our own Wikibooks
>project, but of course this is a much bigger job than the encyclopedia, and
>it will take much longer."

Another project that we work closely with is Wikiversity, which creates 
curricula. A wikiversity course can use a Wikibook as an accompaniment. 
While wikibooks contains books, wikiversity can contain syllabi, tests and 
quizes, slides and handouts, reading assignments, etc. Combined, the two 
projects can create a complete educational experiance for learners of all 
ages.

>Curriculum, by definition, is a package.  It can include textbooks but
>certain goes beyond that to worksheets, teacher planning, activities, etc.
>I would love to redo the SRA Direct Instruction curriculum in wikibooks so
>that parents AND teachers have an option for scientificially based
>curriculum.  But according to new definitions, I'm not sure wikibooks is an
>appropriate place.  Under the old definition from the website listed above,
>it is.

Textbooks for the curriculum definitely belong on wikibooks, it's a great 
collaborative place to host books. For additional materials, Wikiversity is 
a great place for those. It can be a little inconvenient to have to move 
between the two websites, but they have the same software, and linking one 
to the other is very easy.

--Andrew Whitworth

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