California Open Source Textbook Project

From OER Grapevine

The California Open Source Textbook Project (COSTP) is a collaborative, public/private undertaking, created to address the high cost, content range, and consistent shortages of K-12 textbooks and other educational materials in California, the domestic United States, and international markets. COSTP's focus is helping state and local education officials understand the inherent advantages of open source content models in K-12 education.

COSTP is also focused on helping other open source K-12 textbook projects create distribution models that will result in the widespread *use* of their content.

COSTP is proselytizing for widespread adoption of an open source educational project distribution entity that will optimize open source content distribution in the print domain, while redistributing profits back to the open source content community.

It is important to note that COSTP's mandate does not replace printed textbooks; it simply makes them less expensive to produce; and, in doing so creates many additional benefits, economies, and efficiencies that will fully leverage California's, and other public education enterprise activities in the K-12 textbook publishing domain.

The cost of K-12 textbooks has risen steadily over the years. Whatever the reasons for increasing costs, it seems likely that today's high K-12 textbook prices are not inevitable. The past history of textbook prices, and the existence, even today, of textbooks that occasionally cost significantly less than average, indicates that textbooks could be produced and sold for 33-50+% less than currently charged by textbook publishing companies. COSTP's goal is to make the latter pricing scenario a reality, while providing multiple additional advantages for California's (and other) K-12 schools, teachers, students, and taxpayers.

Open sourced, distributed content can be made available gratis, and/or through the use of innovative copyright tools provided by organizations like Creative Commons, its partners, and other organizations.

[edit] Current COSTP strategy

To help organizations with sufficient funding to undertake significant open source K-12 projects to understand the market strategies and tactics necessary for success. Traditionally, open source textbook publishing has been generated from the university campus, or small individual producers. The latter groups have traditionally lacked either the impetus or sheer means necessary to launch a significant, successful assault on the K-12 textbook sector. COSTP has thus begun to commit its efforts to offering its experience to various organizations in service of making K-12 open source publishing a successful enterprise.

[edit] COSTP services

Currently, COSTP is providing consulting and advisory services to organizations that show promise for publishing open source K-12 textbooks. Some of the projects that the California Open Source Textbook Project has consulted with, advised, and or provided valuable strategic insights to are as follows:

1) Advisory to General Education and Learning Community (GELC) staff, who were assigned by Sun Microsystem CEO Scott McNealy (Sun sponsors GELC) to do discovery on the best way to move forward toward open source K-12 textbook production and collaboration.

2) Advisory to CK-12 principals and their consultant, to help provide insight into K-12 distribution channels and optimal models for open source K-12 textbook adoption and production. CK-12 is a new initiative recently announced in Palo Alto, CA; its goal is to create "Flexbooks". CK-12 very similar in scope, model, and ultimate goals to what COSTP has been proselytizing for the last six years.

3) Connexions Project. Coincidental advisory with Connexions principal on key structural needs for successful publication and adoption of open source K-12 textbooks.

3) Soros Open Access Initiative. Advisory to the OAI board as to the most effective ways to accomplish the publishing and distribution of open source textbooks, world wide.

4) Gates, MacArthur, Hewlett, and Annenberg Foundations. Advisory discussions with funding managers on the importance of funding curriculum *materials* innovation, in addition to funding for pure curriculum innovation. The Hewlett Foundation has gone on to fund the Connexions Project, and other projects dedicated to open source distribution.

5) Utah Open State Courseware Project. Advisory to help UOSCP understand the vagaries of textbook production, market realities, and channel innovation necessary to make open source K-12 textbooks a viable undertaking.

6) Wikipedia. COSTP was the first open source K-12 project in Wikipedia, invited to participate by Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's co-founder. Advised Wikipedia on licensing strategies and K-12 textbook market tactics. COSTP founder Sanford Forte responsible for naming "Wikiversity."

7) Venture Capital. Advisory to some in the venture capital community about for-profit distribution options available to social entrepreneurial investors. A partial list includes Sun Microsystems Corporate Venture Capital Group, New Schools Venture Fund, Compass Technology Ventures, Revolution Ventures, Generation Investment Management (UK), and others.

8) California State Education Department; California State Board of Education; California Teacher's Union; various California State Legislators. Advisory and consulting on the best ways to use open source publishing to reduce the cost and increase efficiencies of K-12 textbook production.

9) Creative Commons. Advisory on the creation and construction of Creative Commons educational and other licenses.

10) Advisory to K-12 open source projects based in India (via Connexions) http://cnx.org/content/col10322/latest/ and South Africa http://www.fhsst.org/

11) Advisory to Eduventures, Boston, MA - a research and consulting firm in the education sector,

12) Advisory to East China Normal University, Shanghai, China - investigations into the utilization of open source educational materials for industrial park education

13) Advisory to Academic Consulting, LLC, Exeter, NH

14) Advisory to K-12 Handhelds, Inc., Long Beach, CA

15) Advisory to Foster City School District, Foster City, CA.

16) Advisory to Hewlett-Packard Imaging Group, Palo Alto, CA

Contact

Sanford Forte, Founder and Director

California Open Source Textbook project

Palo Alto, CA

sforte@opensourcetext.org

650-888-0077