[Edu-sig] How best to publish?...

[Kirby Urner]

>> Like, I think Elkner is asking good questions and his
>> heart is certainly in the right place, but at the end 
>> of the day, people are gonna do what they're gonna do.
>
>Thanks, Kirby, but your missing the point.  What I am trying to 
>figure out is what I'm gonna do at the end of today ;-)

Got it.  Likewise from a purely selfish perspective, my
answer is:  doesn't really matter to me a whole lot what
format you use, as its your good and original ideas that 
I'll be using, more than verbatim copies of anything 
(except maybe Python source code -- whatever you see 
fit to make available (and we'll want to tweek that
too of course)).

>It is VERY important that we get some real contact with 
>real schools in this effort.  While it is certainly true 
>that some of the more innovative teachers will want to 
>do their own lessons, if we expect Python to be used to 
>teach "Computer Programming for Everyone" than we can 
>not expect ALL teachers to do that.

I'm more focussed on students learning, less on teachers 
teaching i.e. I'm not necessarily presuming the schools 
will ever be a primary source for this material.  We have 
the web now, e.g. some kids will stay home and learn 
programming (parents permitting) or hang out with friends 
at the local internet cafe vs. going to school and wasting 
time not learning much that's trully useful.

>1. Here is your Visual Basic course... It includes 
>textbook, quizzes and tests with answer keys, lab 
>activities and sample lesson plans.

And here are your net-savvy students, who have done some 
homework and know they'd rather be learning Python than 
VB.  That's what all the cool kids are learning.  VB is 
lame.  Parents have a say too.

>2. Why not try Python.  All you need to do is go 
>out and learn desktop publishing, hunt around the web 
>for some sample code, and put together your own 
>textbook, quizzes and tests, lab activities, and 
>lesson plans, all in the comfort of your spare time :-(

And don't forget HTML -- gotta learn that too, so you
can show kids how to do their own websites.  

And if your school doesn't value your ability to source 
curriculum, maybe find some other institution that does 
-- no one said we have to depend on schools when it 
comes to pumping valuable materials out to the kids.

I'm mostly looking at a DVD + web combo these days.
My Oregon Curriculum Website is designed from the 
ground up with homeschoolers in mind.

Kirby