I'm very gratified by the positive responses I've gotten
about this idea, both on- and off-list, and I've gone ahead and
set up a web page and an e-mail list; their URLs are given below,
along with a blurb about the project. Some of you will find that
your work is already linked to from the web page.
I hope you'll be as excited as I am about the
possibilities for cooperation that this project can open up,
and that you'll go ahead and subscribe to the e-mail list.
Possible topics of discussion once the list gets under way:
- What other resources can we link to from the OPE
web page?
- discussion of open-source licenses
- discussion of print-to-order and other types of
nontraditional publishing
- Methods of developing new teaching materials: What
has worked and what hasn't? What lessons can we
learn from the open-source software movement?
About Open Physics Education
Open Physics Education is a group of physics teachers
who are interested in applying free information to
education. Teachers who create their own materials can
end up reinventing the wheel -- by sharing, we can do a
better job, and do it with less wasted effort. Materials
published via the traditional process are often excellent,
but may not afford enough flexibility. For example, you
may not wish to make your students pay for an entire
workbook if they will only be using a small fraction of
it; or the notation and terminology may be incompatible
with the textbook you've chosen.