数字技术掀起教科书革命

    可汗学院（Khan Academy）采用了部分开源的模式。它的后端平台是私有专利，但大部分内容对外开放，目前已经吸引了数百万的学生。哈佛大学（Harvard）和麻省理工大学（MIT）支持的大规模开放网络课程EdX最近宣布，将开放部分后端课程平台，给全世界的机构提供机会，建立他们自己的在线课程。

    与此同时，即便非盈利的CK-12和EdX，免费和开源的教育公司也需要创收。许多其他开源供应商也存在这个问题。其中一个方案就是植入广告，同时提供支持服务，帮助学校和教师有效利用所提供的教学材料。而盈利性的免费大规模开放网络课程，比如Coursera，正在尝试几种不同的潜在创收方式，比如给其他学校发放使用课程内容的许可，或是在公司招聘人员和优秀学生之间牵线搭桥。

    哪种模式能够获得最终胜利尚不明了。可汗学院的萨尔曼•汗谈到开源时说：“从道理上来说，这听起来很棒。不过真正的价值增值并不在于此，而在于人们分享了资源，你才能获得免费体验。”对可汗学院而言，有一件事很确定：传统出版商无法胜任这项任务，从而踏上潮流的浪头。“如果一家出版商想和Facebook竞争，他们会向你收取20美元的注册费。”

    同样，基础教育学校和大学也同时踏入了这两股潮流。犹他州教育部2012年1月启动项目，发展和支持高中的科学、数学、语言艺术课使用开放式课本，首先投入使用的是CK-12的数学和科学课本。通常一本书要花费80美元，而在两年的试点项目期间，犹他州使用这类课本的花费仅为每本约5美元，这是使用亚马逊（Amazon）的自助打印服务CreateSpace的成本。

    杨柏翰大学（Brigham Young University）的教授兼犹他州开放式课本试点项目负责人大卫•威利说：“你给学生一本4美元或者5美元的书，让他们用心学习。到了学年结束，你可以和老师来看学生的学习难点在哪，从而修订并完善课本。教材每年都能变得更好。”

    2012年9月，加州立法支持大规模大学系统的入门课程使用50本开放式电子课本。今年2月，国会议员乔治•米勒（加州民主党）在众议院提出议案，要求拨款7.5亿美元在全美支持数字教育事业，包括在课堂上采用开放式教学资源。

    大型出版商同样密切关注着这些动态，许多出版商并不为此兴奋。实际上，培生、圣智教育（Cengage Learning）和 麦克米伦高等教育（Macmillan Higher Education）于2012年3月在曼哈顿联邦法庭起诉了开源教育的出版商Boundless Learning。大型出版商声称Boundless“选编、组合和重排”了他们的材料，侵犯了他们的知识产权。Boundless的CEO阿里尔•迪亚兹在最近的一次诉讼陈述中写道：“这类法律诉讼是他们的一次尝试。他们想借此扼杀借助网络力量帮助学生节省金钱、提高学习效果的初创公司。”

    在法律诉讼之外，开源教育也必须面对一个简单的事实：教育机构本质上是保守派，这种转变的进展将非常缓慢。而主流出版商已经耗时几十年建立了遍布全国的销售团队，他们与教学系统和教育工作者关系紧密，在应对复杂繁琐的国家课本审批流程上也很专业。

    理想情况下，主流出版商、免费教育提供商和开源公司将互相推动，渐渐加大投入，最终让学生和老师受益。话说回来，这种局面为什么不能像开源的Linux系统推动微软（Microsoft）和苹果（Apple）进步那样呢？威利说：“我想，出版商和开源世界最终总会建立起一种健康的关系。他们可以互相推动，互相挑战。竞争总归是件好事。”（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    Khan Academy, which is partly open-source (its back-end platform is proprietary, but most of its content is open), has attracted millions of students. The Harvard and MIT-backed MOOC EdX recently announced that it would begin to open up parts of its back-end course platform to give organizations all over the world an opportunity to make online classes of their own.

    At the same time, free and open-source education firms, even nonprofits like CK-12 and EdX, need to generate revenue. As is the case with many other open-source outfits, one option is to offer add-on and other support services that help schools and teachers make the best use of the education materials these firms are making available. For-profit, free MOOCs like Coursera are experimenting with several different potential revenue streams, from licensing course content to other schools, to pairing corporate recruiters with top students.

    Which model will prevail is still unclear. "Philosophically it sounds great," says Khan Academy'sSalman Khan, referring to open source, "but that doesn't seem where the real value-add has been. The real value-add has been people putting out the resources so you can experience them for free." One thing is certain to Khan, though: The traditional players are not up to the task to hop on to this trend. "If a publisher wanted to compete with Facebook (FB), they would charge you $20 to sign up."

    Just the same, K-12 schools and universities are dabbling in both trends. Utah's department of education launched a project in January 2012 to develop and support the use of open textbooks in high school science, math, and language arts, using CK-12's math and science texts as a starting point. Instead of costing the usual $80 per book, Utah was able to procure texts for around $5, the cost of printing from Amazon's self-publishing service CreateSpace, during a two-year pilot program.

    "You give this kid a $4 or $5 book, let them use it to their heart's content," says David Wiley, a professor at Brigham Young University and leader of the open textbook pilot program in Utah. "And then you go back at the end of year with teachers, see what students struggle on, and revise and improve the book. Each year, the text gets better."

    In September 2012, California passed legislation to support the development of 50 open-digital textbooks for intro-level classes taught in its massive university system. And in February, Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced legislation in the House to commit $750 million to bolster digital education efforts across the U.S., including the adoption of open-educational resources in classrooms.

    Major publishers are also taking notice; many are not thrilled. In fact, publishers Pearson, Cengage Learning, and Macmillan Higher Education filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan against open-source education publisher Boundless Learning in March 2012. The major publishers claim that Boundless violates their intellectual property by matching the "selection, coordination, and arrangement" of their materials. Boundless responded to the lawsuit in February, requesting a jury trial. "Such legal action is an attempt to stifle startups using the power of the Internet to help students save money and become better learners," wrote Boundless CEO Ariel Diaz in a recent statement on the lawsuit.

    On top of legal action, open source education will have to deal with the simple fact that educational institutions are, by nature, conservative and slow to change. And the major publishers have spent decades building sales-staff armies all across the country with close relationships to school systems and educators. The traditional publishers are also experts in tackling the Byzantine state textbook approval process.

    Ideally, the major publishers, the free education players, and the open source firms will end up egging each other on, upping the ante at each step of the way, and ultimately benefiting students and teachers. After all, why can't it play out like the way open-source Linux helped propel advances from Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL)? "I think there will always be what I think is a healthy relationship between publishers and the open-source world. They push each other forward. They challenge each other. Competition is good," says Wiley.