Recently, I shared a podcast Tim Holt had recorded of a conversation where Janice Schlottmann pointed out Houghton-Mifflin’s poor decision to protect its copyright to the detriment of iPod wielding youngsters.

Now, instead of Houghton-Mifflin (in fact, perhaps they should be dumped altogether by State agencies as a textbook choice), Tim Holt discovered a possible alternative–Lit2Go, which offers audio files for kindergartners:

A free collection of stories and poems in mp3 (audiobook) format. Visit the “Lit2Go on the Web” link above to download printable versions of each passage along with reading activities for students.

Lit2Go: Audio Files for Kindergarteners Features: Robert Louis Stevenson poems for children, as well as classic nursery rhymes like “Jack and Jill”, “Little Bo-Peep”, “Hickory Dickory Dock”, and “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”.

Maybe instead of aligning our teaching to textbooks, we start doing our own recordings and take advantage of the rich collection of free audio books available…and dump textbook copyright dictators out with the trash. Too harsh? I think not. When businesses decide to bar teachers and students from real learning experiences simply to protect their bottom-line, they’ve crossed the line and teachers and students should advocate for freedom from such tyranny.

Consider the argument for open source thinking and development applied to projects like free audio book development for use in K-12 schools in the U.S.

Governments are also getting in on the act by using open source software. This is software that’s typically developed by a community of developers, and whose source code is made openly available to licensed users, making it possible for them to tailor the software to their needs and make continuous iterative improvements.

Not only is this a really cheap way of designing software, but it’s often faster and more effective too.
Source: The Guardian

Wouldn’t it be more effective if teachers did the work? Of course, that would mean teachers had to have time. I read a report (i think it was this one, which was really a podcast) recently that foreign teachers spend 60% of their time on working with students, while American teachers spend 80%. Yet, foreign teachers have higher performing students. What’s up with that? Maybe we need to spend more time reflecting and developing rather than running ragged chasing pie in the sky accountability measures.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure