eLearning w Books & Beyond

So first off I think textbooks are incredibly boring and do not meet the needs of today's students. Think about it.  When you want to learn you first go to YouTube and search for a video.  Want to hang a picture, fix your car engine, make furniture, you name it.  But we continue to produce boring textbooks that challenge the student not to fall asleep.  Yes those in the humanities say we need our students to learn to read, but really name an adult - even a teacher - who reads textbooks for fun. Textbooks often turn off, especially in the humanities our learners rather than excite them which is what we want.  In other words if you want students to love reading, give them a fun diary entry, a novel, etc.

Now textbooks aren't all bad.  They are a good source of information from time to time and are a good resource.  But as we move our students online and to a a hybrid 1:1 environment, we want to offer our students a way to learn in the way that is best for them - not for the teacher.

So that is why I like CK-12 as a resource.  It is best for math and the sciences as those subjects offer the complete suite of learning.  For example, if you go here you can see that the student learning about angles can read a short description about angles, then, if necessary, watch a video; practice problems and then there is an interactive way to challenge the student.  So for me this is great.  If the student gets it after reading the text, then s/he is done.  If a video is all that is needed or is better than the text then the kid can stop there.  If the student wants practice then there are two ways to go about it.  Find a textbook that offers all of that AND IS FREE!

Finally all the learning can be done on one's smartphone as well.