What if ???? - Virtex - an idea !

Virtex The Virtual Textbook A World First for Victoria	CSF implementation slow and patchy
The Department announced today the launching of a world first in technological curriculum support - a virtual mathematics textbook for years 7-10.	The Department announced a new series of booklets that will provide guidelines for schools to develop their own curriculum within the CSF structure.
The structure of the text "book" will build on the extensive world class curriculum publications developed by the Victorian Education Department over the last decade.	After much initial interest, the volumes of outcomes, course advice and assessment guidelines are proving to be hard to use on a day by day basis.
This idea has been made possible by the growing use of the internet for both research and publishing by schools in Victoria due to the support and encouragement of the government.
The Department recognises that the CSF curriculum structure does not provide schools with a classroom course. The CSF provides student outcomes and sequences of activity suggestions (sourced from a variety of commercial publications that schools may or may not own). Teachers still have the enormous task of selecting, collecting and transforming these ideas into actual lesson sequences.	School classroom courses have weathered the storm of many curriculum fads and fancies encouraged by successive governments. They have always been resistant to change unless it is shown to be practical and supported by the community.
The success of the CSF will be measured by the extent that is actually influences classroom teaching practice, and this is reflected in course materials actually used by schools.	Schools are finding the CSF hard to translate into classroom reality.
The Department believes that a single course cannot meet the needs of all the schools in the state. The costs of publishing a variety of courses conventionally on paper would be enormous.	Commercial publishers continue to boast CSF on their covers while only paying lip service to the real differences needed in curriculum approach and assessment practices.
Commercial publishers recognise this when they publish only general texts (easily rejigged for other state markets) with minimal course support, rather than full courses specifically tailored to the Victorian CSF.
A commercial publisher with major text sales in Victoria has been selected to provide much of the specific activity documentation in a format ready for immediate classroom use.
The Department has negotiated access to Curriculum Corporation Materials (that often had very considerable Victorian input)
Teachers can access the textbook from any school location through the internet and the school password.
International interest in the system is already high, and the Ministry will sell passwords to schools around the world so that they can also access the materials electronically.
The virtual textbook is fast developing into a more general mathematics resource - a virtual mathematics dictionary and encyclopedia. This is occurring as many teachers across the state and the world contribute materials to the system. The department and its commercial partner continue to contribute the editorial oversight and system structure.

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April 1997

Mock News Release: A World First for MacMillan

MacMillan announced today the launching of a world first in technological curriculum provision - a virtual mathematics textbook for years 7-10.

The structure of the text "book" will build on the extensive world class curriculum publications developed within the Macmillan's stable over the last decade. This idea has been made possible by the growing use of the internet for both research and publishing by schools throughout the world.

MacMillan recognises that the costs of publishing an ever growing variety of courses conventionally on paper is getting out of hand. The more fragmented the market, the less incentive for authors and publishers to provide materials.

Regardless of what resources teachers buy, they still have the enormous task of selecting, collecting and transforming these ideas into actual lesson sequences.

Government education departments in Australia and a state in the USA have agreed to subscribe to VirTex in a trial which could change the face of textbook publishing worldwide.
Teachers in participating schools can access the textbook from any school location through the internet and the school password.

International interest in the system is already high, and MacMillan will sell passwords to schools around the world so that they can also access the materials electronically. Schools will then pay a small fee per month or according to how much material they read from Virtex.

The virtual textbook is fast developing into a more general mathematics resource - a virtual mathematics lesson bank, dictionary and encyclopedia. This is occurring as many teachers across the world contribute materials to the system. Authors get paid according to the amount of material that is accepted into VirTex, and according to the number of visits to that material.

MacMillan has plans for Virtex to expand into many other curriculum areas over the near future, and is interested in hearing from contributors at any time, particularly authors of materials already published on paper.
MacMillan stated that they do not expect that the amount of paper based publication will reduce, but that the type of publication will rapidly alter, as paper resources seek to complement and extend what is available from VirTex in much the same way as, in the past, computer software used to complement and extend what was available on paper.

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Reasons for teachers to visit a Web site

• Education is one of the fast growing areas of Web use. It is currently a very widespread "buzzword" among students, teachers, parents, schools, and even educational systems (in particular the Victorian Government).
  
• School communities and the government are very eager to encourage all teachers to use the Web. Use of "high" technology tools by teachers was a significant part of recent Victorian and national industrial award discussions for teachers. Teachers recognise that familiarity with the Web will enhance their career advancement within the educational system. They also recognise that they have access to materials on the Web that may not be available in other forms, and once obtained, these materials can be easily changed on computer for use with a specific student group.
  All schools in Victoria are currently able to access the Web, and teachers are encouraged to do so by regular government publications such as "Education News".

Reasons for teachers to RETURN to a web site.

• Reference materials, lesson plans or work sheets are available. Teachers are constantly searching for reference materials that they can build into their lessons. Most reference materials have to be photocopied and accepted unchanged, or physically "cut and pasted" onto worksheets. The Web provides the possibility of collecting reference materials that can be integrated into computer based class materials in any way the teacher desires. Teachers find "freebies" virtually irresistible (almost regardless of their quality).
  
• New materials are being published regularly. A Web Site should make users well aware that it is continually "under development". There can be changes to suggested activities, contests, problems of the day/week etc. which give the feeling that a return would not be a mere repeat of a previous visit.
  
• Students can use the site. If a site has materials that can be directly used by students (e.g. worksheets, reference material in suitable format and language etc.) then it will be continually revisited as new students are introduced to it.

An effective structure for a maths web site.

• The Web site contents can be summarised easily from the minimum number of pages. I believe that most Web users get frustrated by the large number of separate pages that they must load before reaching the page they desire. It is an advantage to keep the site structure as "flat" as possible.
  
• The Web site is as similar as possible to "paper based" curriculum planning documents. Teachers will utilise the Web site more "naturally" and enthusiastically if it follows the structure of similar paper based documents.
  
• The Web site offers enhancements to curriculum linkages that are not possible on paper. There is currently a law of diminishing returns that operates with curriculum publications. The more comprehensive that they area the less accessible they become. For instance, the Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching Program (MCTP) publications are an excellent collection, but as they relate to a variety of class levels and mathematics topics, they are difficult to integrate into programs without whole scale photocopying and distribution into the relevant curriculum files. Many other publications are wasted on library reference shelves because they are too bulky or too limited in scope to carry around and refer to throughout a course.
  A Web site can develop materials that are linked to each other by the "click of a mouse" rather than the need to wade through paper to find the relevant reference (and then realise that it is not really relevant!).
  This is the most time consuming task: to categorise and cross link the resources so that the materials are intelligently cross referenced.
  A less time consuming (but less effective) method used by many Web sites is to provide a general purpose search "engine" which just lists all files which contain a keyword.
  
• The Web site provides links to outside resources. This is difficult and time consuming (especially as many resources change their directory structure or even site address from time to time). Nevertheless, links to additional resources throughout the globe is appreciated if it is specific accurate and relevant. The best example that I know of the power of this external linkage (and internal cross linkage) is, rather predictably, Britannica Online.

An Embryonic Maths Web Site - Castlemaine Secondary College

• This Web site has been developed over the last 6 months to contain as much of the administrative guidelines of the Maths Learning Area as possible. These guidelines are thus available to teachers from any location with a Web Link in the school or their homes. They can be easily edited and are more likely to become an actual guide to practice than a large body of paper kept in a folder somewhere in the staff room.
  
• The site is now being expanded with the incorporation of:
  • A maths dictionary
  • Lesson sequences (currently only some of the core activities at year 7 and 8)
  • Victorian Ministry Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF). Some lesson activities have been translated and inked. I have plans for the addition of the full CSF documentation (including all the lesson plans contained in the Course Development Advice).
    
• A series of pages that illustrate the power of this site when fully developed are:
  
  • Explore the Year 7 course and look at its textbook
  • Contents: Comprehensive link lists that gives an overall picture of the site contents.
  • Year 7 Subject Outline: I want to see what I am supposed to teach (or learn)
  • Maths For Australian Schools: I want to see what textbook I will be using.
  • An Introduction to Natural Numbers: I want to see what activities the text provides as not all will necessarily be included in the recommended lesson sequence. I then see a full list of text activity titles for that chapter.
    
• Another pathway:
  • Look at a list of suggested activities for Year 8 algebra
  • Contents: Comprehensive link lists that gives an overall picture of the site contents.
  • Year 8 Subject Outline:
  • Geometry: The suggested lesson sequence refers to the Textbook (and a full contents listing available), but also provides links to full text of lessons available from the CSF online: Basic Construction with Ruler & Compass: 60 deg, bisection, polygons and others.

I believe that the potential for this Virtual Textbook (VirTex) is virtually unlimited. I would welcome any suggestions or offers of advice or assistance in further developing these ideas.

The Author: Stephen Digby, Bachelor of Science Degree (Monash University); Diploma in Education, (Victoria College), Graduate Diploma in Computer Education (Victoria College). Stephen has worked in primary, technical and high Schools in Victoria as a teacher, computer education, maths and science consultant for 16 years. His other career experiences include managing a Computer Education Teacher Training Centre, working as a writer for the Information Technology Study of the Victorian Certificate of Education, and teaching mathematics in the USA. He is currently Maths Co-ordinator of the Castlemaine Secondary College, Victoria.