I like to believe that I keep up with the latest technology, the latest websites, and such. The day job certainly relates to technology. So I have a Tumblr now that I am using for my online high schools and free online high schools websites. Except that I really have not figured out much that I should be doing with it.

Is this one of those things that I need to have my 14-year-old explain to me?

Do you know someone/anyone who is using Tumblr in a way that works well? Let me know in the comments.

Connexions

I have decided to spend the next month finding and posting the best of TED. Well, the best of TED that relates to me and what I do. The first is Mike Matas discussing the first feature-length interactive book.

So I have decided to create short videos to help promote the online schools on my websites. I’m good at some things, but not great at others. This is probably one of those that I could do better. That being said, here it is.

1. $49 for a digital textbook? Really? I am someone who understands the publishing world reasonably well (written four books, former school librarian, voracious reader on the subject), so I do get that there is a significant cost involved. It’s not $49 each. It can’t be. Why? Here’s one good reason. I actually had a conversation with a different publishing company and they brought up the quality issue. Absolutely what they do is of higher quality than that link. If that was the only choice, perhaps that argument would win. The economy is swirling the drain. Free is free.
2. Paying for digital textbooks over x number of years? Really? That is a model that never made sense (and which was tied to textbook adoptions). It’s unclear to me that California will do textbook adoptions in the same way again (adoptions last seven years here). We will pay one time and be done with it (and I would encourage you to go back and take a look at #1).
3. You have to use publishing companies because you need textbooks. Guess what? You are no longer the only game in town. Groups of large school districts could easily band together and begin to create textbooks of their own.
4. A digital textbook is not the creation of a .pdf file and the slapping of it onto the Internet. Again, I can get that for free. Digital textbooks should have video, audio, interactivity, and more. There are precious few examples of this out there.

Via: OnlineEducation.net

If you have an interest in digital textbooks, and who doesn’t, then I would encourage you to check out the new Digital Textbooks Daily that I have set up over at http://paper.li. Using Twitter feeds, it pulls in information from all over the Internet about digital textbooks. Enjoy!