on math ed: free for the people!

i just learned about this from (/.). these guys must have read my mind, but have surely improved on the idea.

A group of Finnish math teachers write an open textbook in a weekend hackathon

A group of Finnish mathematics researchers, teachers and students write a upper secondary mathematics textbook in a booksprint. The event started on Friday 28th September at 9:00 (GMT+3) and the book will be (hopefully) ready on Sunday evening..

[ article continues here ]

this is really cool!

even cooler, they're making the LaTeX source code available on github, thereby allowing other interested parties to adjust the text to their needs.

if education is a civil right, then educational materials (like textbooks) should be made freely available .. which, on a related note:

Free digital textbooks offered as Gov. Jerry Brown signs bills

Twin bills by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) will give students free digital access to 50 core textbooks for lower-division courses offered by the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems. Hard copies of the texts would cost $20.

[ article continues here @latimes ]