The impact of GTP on me

By Desiree White

Global Text Project's work is beneficial to those who cannot afford an education and I could tell you all about the pleasant feelings associated with making a difference in someone else's life, but I know you've heard that before. Instead, I want to tell you about what its like to be a twenty-something graduating into a globally depressed economy and what impact the Global Text Project has had.

I took on this internship with Global Text Project due to personal interests in the Open Education movement and technology. While I enjoy working with GTP and working with the production staff to put out more and more textbooks for use, I'd honestly never considered working in the publishing industry.

Although I have a semester left, my chance of getting a job initially seemed grim. I have bolstered myself by double majoring, but neither of my majors are in high demand. As graduation nears, nothing short of ongoing waves of semi-latent panic attacks persisted until I made a rather startling discovery.

As I started looking into ads for jobs in editorial or publishing industries, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself quite prepared. Many entry level positions wanted a BA, preferably in English (Check!), computer skills (as the current computer dork among the editorial assistants, check!), and at least a year of editorial experience (CHECK! I'll have a year and a half when I graduate). Suddenly the future doesn't seem so bleak, especially given that my year of editorial experience involves textbooks–and not just any textbooks! These are used internationally. That's a definite edge over a yearbook or a local paper or magazine because it adheres to higher standards of correct information and standardized formatting.

In addition, its a grand slam on the community service front because our books are free for anyone and downloaded all over the world. Between working with the social media and tracking the locations of people involved for a marketing project, I can list a plethora of places associated with GTP. I owe GTP so much for calming some of these coming-of-age fears and I can't wait to see what next semester brings as a production manager.

Look out publishing industry, here I come!

Goodbye to GTP! (an intern looking forward)

Do you worry that you wont find enough opportunities to intern as an English major? I certainly did, but luckily I stumbled upon an amazing project, which began my short but important internship as an editorial assistant. I first became involved with the Global Text Project the spring of my sophomore year. Fortunately for me, the Global Text Project was piloting an internship program for university students. I was so proud after I was accepted into the program since I was quite young and inexperienced. For 2 semesters, I worked with Marisa Drexel and three other interns. For each of us, it was the first semester working with the project. We quickly learned each others working habits and perfected our ability to function as a team. The intimate setting and close connections I have made with the other interns helped me learn how to be a better leader and a better collaborator.

This small yet motivated group accomplished so much within a year. The most important lesson I have learned while interning at the Global Text Project is that you cannot be just a leader or solely a follower. At GTP, we work so intimately that it is almost impossible to sit back and fade into the background, which is why this project is so unique in what it offers interns. Every intern's opinion matters, and everyday each of us must be willing to give 110 per cent to complete all of our assignments. Some days one of us needs a helping hand, and someone's initiative to step in and give assistance allows the project to stay on track. You never know if you will be the person to help or the one who needs help, but no matter what we work together to finish the job. This atmosphere of team work and constant collaboration becomes contagious within the project. We lift each other up so we have nowhere else to go but forward.

Now, I myself am moving forward to intern with a literary agency. Working with the Global Text Project has opened up new opportunities for me and has helped me grow in multiple aspects. I do not think I could have achieved the literary internship without my experience at Global Text. An internship with this project does more then just resume-building, it teaches young students how to work and succeed within a real office environment. I owe so much to the project, and specifically to Marisa Drexel, our intern supervisor. She went above and beyond to teach us so much about future careers and expectations. Thanks Global Text! I hope I gave back to the project as much as it gave to me!

Edit the world

By Kristyna Mauch

Editors improve everything, or so my teacher told me while taking a journalism class at the University of Georgia. It wasn't long until I realized my teacher was right.

Many times I have walked by signs and other public advertisements and caught errors. To me, a misspelling here or a misuse of grammar there completely compromises the sign's message, even the company's reputation. The fact that I noticed these small but careless errors gave me the idea that I needed to do something about it. I needed to improve what the world reads everyday. To reach this sizable goal, I have been working to improve my own editing skills knowing that anyone can be reading with a skeptical eye, like mine.

However, this journey to improvement has comically hindered my ability to enjoy some of the little things in life. Love letters lose their enchantment if a word is misspelled. Chick-fil-A advertisements (the southern-based US fast food restaurant where cartoon cows advertise eating “mor” chicken) never cease to annoy me, and my need to constantly edit makes reading for pleasure much less pleasurable.

Nevertheless my joy for putting words together, outweighs the heavy burden of others' written indiscretions. You see, I recognize changing the world through editing is a hard burden to bear, but somebody's got to do it! That is why I spent the last year working with the Global Text Project.

Interning as an editorial assistant with the project, I not only trained to become a better editor, I learned about higher education around the world. I learned not to take my education for granted and more importantly I learned to give back. Working with textbooks everyday that will give others the opportunity to work towards a college education makes giving my time and talents all worth while.

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) says: “The more you know the more you grow.” Giving people the tools to educate themselves to create a better world is a valuable endeavor. I'll be graduating from the University of Georgia this December and soon be using my talents elsewhere, but I know I have made a worldwide impact from the small Global Text Project office at UGA. I am honored to be part of a grass roots effort to create education free to all.

As for myself, editing online textbooks is just the beginning. I hope to continue to improve this world, one editorial error at a time.

Looking forward to 2011

By Tessa Greenleaf

The University of Georgia is all a blur with the onslaught of finals and the conclusion of yet another semester in Athens. Students are gearing up for the holidays as classes are winding down, but here at Global Text Project we are just getting ready to start a new year.

Although the rest of campus may be settling in for the winter, Global Text has been working hard to set up next semester's training schedule for our new interns. The past few weeks we have hosted an information session about internships at GTP, accepted and reviewed student resumés, and conducted interviews for new positions in the office. All that hard work gave us three new interns who will begin office hours in January of this coming year.

This past year has been a whirlwind of a learning experience for me at GTP. Although I have learned a great deal about the world of electronic publication, the most valuable lessons have been those that taught me about working in leadership as well as group positions. Our team on campus is a close-knit group of interns who work together in very close quarters–literally, you should see our office. Every day we come in to work is one more day we have to learn to work together as a team rather than as individuals.

As we embark on training new interns for next semester the importance of teamwork grows with each passing day. Scheduling training sessions and around five student schedules is no easy feat, so we all have to be a bit flexible when it comes to managing our time. Despite the difficulties of organizing five schedules, I am excited to begin working with our new interns, showing them the ropes of GTP and teaching them the importance of what we do here.

More than a textbook publisher, Global Text Project is an initiative that is based on teamwork and collaboration from every aspect of the project. As interns we have to work with one another in order to meet textbook deadlines just as textbook authors must work with us in order to publish their books. GTP is all about teamwork. As we welcome our new interns, I look forward to getting to know them and learn how they will contribute to the project not only as individuals but as a part of a new team of interns. As individuals we all work differently, and it is always interesting and exciting to see how group dynamics change when new people are introduced into the equation. For the first time there will be three tiers of workers in the GTP office: the associate editor, production managers, and student interns. This will be a new and exciting dynamic in the office, one I am looking forward to experiencing.

This coming semester marks the beginning of my work with a fellow intern as we become production managers. As production managers we will be overseeing training and organizing work schedules for the newly hired student interns. No longer will we merely be showing up for our shifts in the office, we will now be responsible for delegating assignments to other people. Our workloads will be different from the ones we have had this past year, and I think I speak for the both of us when I say that we are thrilled to be able to be a part of training a part of the next generation of GTP workers.

On behalf of Global Text Project, happy holidays! See you next year.

Dr. Jim Feher: Publishing made easy with GTP!

It goes without saying that undertaking the authoring of a text can be fairly intimidating, but I guess I just said that anyway. As an author, you want to just write about what you are interested in, however you need to worry about formatting, editing, technical content review, image creation, distribution, printing; the list can go on and on and can leave you starting to think twice about the idea of writing any text.

Fear not, the GTP has a host of services that will assist you and let you focus on content development. The GTP will:
* Provide a general style guide that is useful for document formatting
* Assist in the text layout
* Assist in image and table layout
* Coordinate the generation of your master document/final product
* Provide editors for the non-technical content
* Post your final project onto Lulu.com for you
* Publicize your texts on Facebook, Twitter, and the GTP Google group.
...and much more I am probably forgetting

In fact, I'd say the most important thing to remember is not to be afraid to ask for help. Marisa Drexel, the Associate Editor for the GTP team was a HUGE help for me with all of the things I mentioned above.

The GTP team allowed me to concentrate on the technical content which took a tremendous burden off of my shoulders. So fear not, don't let yourself be intimidated from taking that first step and starting your text, the GTP is there for you!

Dr. Jim Feher, GTP textbook author, talks about working with Global Text Project to create and publish an open textbook

Associate Editor: Tell us your perspective on creating your textbook, Digital Logic with Laboratory Exercises, with Global Text Project.

Dr. Jim Feher: What can I say, I may be biased, but I think the Global Text Project (GTP) is just a fantastic organization. I've always been a huge proponent of open source software and the free exchange of ideas that is made possible by using the Creative Commons License. So when I was thinking about writing a lab manual and came across the GTP, I was immediately excited about the possibility of working with them to release my manual.

When I contacted the GTP, I was impressed. Not only did I find an organization with an underlying philosophy of making materials freely available that I agreed with; I also found a group that had in infrastructure in place that was able to assist me in the development and distribution of my text. Because the helpful and knowledgeable staff at GTP was able to help in assembling of my materials, I was able to concentrate on writing the text and not get bogged down in so much of the formatting required for the project.

The entire process of writing my text was very rewarding and I look forward to the opportunity to enhance my current edition or starting a new text. I would strongly encourage anyone considering writing a text to look into working with the GTP. They will not only help provide valuable assistance in developing the text, you will also know that your efforts are more likely
to reach a vast audience that could not otherwise afford quality texts.

This is multi-part series, keep checking back! More to come from Dr. Jim Feher!

Dr. Feher teaches Computer Science at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, USA.

Frank W. Spencer PHD on GTP text Educational Psychology, a review

Posted August 13, on his blog (http://www.frankwspencer.com/)

"As part of the Global Text Project, Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton have written Educational Psychology: Second Edition. It is a textbook, covering such topics as student development, diversity, special needs, classroom management, instructional methods, assessment, and teaching thinking skills. It is written for teachers. I'll concentrate on the chapter, Facilitating Complex Thinking. The authors distinguish three types of thinking: critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving. Metacognition, or considering your own thinking, is seen as an important part of critical thinking. Creative thinking is discussed in terms of divergent thinking. Finally, problem solving is described through the use of the nine dot and four lines problem. Well-structured and ill-structured problems are distinguished, with ill-structured problems usually having more possible solutions, and requiring more creative thinking. Some strategies to teach for problem solving are problem analysis (breaking it down into parts), working backward from the final solution, and analogical thinking, or using the solutions to similar problems that you have solved in the past.

Later on in the chapter, Seifert and Sutton give a good example of using concept maps. They present a concept map of child development as drawn by a teacher and one as drawn by a professor at a university. The maps themselves and the differences between the maps are interesting illustrations of how we use connections between ideas to understand. Madeline Hunter's effective teaching model is presented, consisting of (1) prepare students, (2) present information, (3) check for understanding, (4) give guided practice, and (5) provide for independent practice. This educator (Hunter) is an interesting person to learn about. Near the end of the chapter, inquiry learning and cooperative learning are discussed. Some strategies for encouraging cooperative learning are presented. This chapter is good to read, even if you don't have time to read the whole book, and the price is right. Overall, the book gives a good introduction to the use of psychological information in the teaching process."

For more from Frank W. Spencer, a school psychologist and private practitioner, please check out his blog (http://www.frankwspencer.com/).

First Global Text events in Phnom Penh!

Our continuous efforts in Cambodia have resulted in 3 informational seminars in University of Puthisastra and Pannasastra University of Cambodia. The first 2 events were catered for students while the third one was organized especially for professors, lecturers and librarians.

22^nd May 2010 marked our first Global Text event ever in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The seminar served as a first step to introduce the school community to Global Text in particular and OERs in general. Our goal was to promote awareness on how students and professors can utilize resources on the internet to enrich their study, teaching, and research.

It was a successful and fruitful event with over 70 students from different schools in Phnom Penh attended. Most of the questions raised were on how to find books on particular subjects like psychology, IT, agriculture, etc.

(22nd May 2010, University of Puthisastra)

3^rd June 2010 was second seminar at Pannasastra University of Cambodia. Over 50 students from PUC have attended with enthusiastic response.

(3rd June 2010, Pannasastra University of Cambodia)

4^th June 2010 was the session for lecturers and librarians at University of Puthisastra. We have made important forges with the professors and a professor have plans to incorporate our Business Fundamentals book into his entrepreneurship teaching curriculum.

This is a wonderful progress and we hope to further extend it to other schools with Sander, our new intern who is coming on board from 25^th June.

Distribution Initiative in Cambodia

Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia!

This is Natalie Le, project manager for the first joint effort between AIESEC and Global Text to promote free open textbooks to developing countries. It is quite ironic that everybody on the web knows how to download textbooks for free but the ones who need those most are totally oblivious to the amount of knowledge and resources that they can obtain at no cost. I’m talking, of course, about students in countries like Cambodia where there is such a thirst for knowledge but the local bookstores are not able to deliver.

To bridge this gap, we have decided to launch a pilot initiative to work with universities here in Cambodia to create awareness among professors and students alike. We are working with universities to organize seminars to demonstrate to the school community how they can do research, find materials for courses, and further enrich their learning experiences by accessing Open Educational Resources in general and Global Text in particular. Simultaneously, we work with professors to integrate these free textbooks into the curriculum and work with librarians to link the resources into the school’s web system.

It’s wonderful to have acquired all these free textbooks and we are on our way to better make full use of them by developing an effective distribution system.

Free textbooks can free the world

In today's economy, people must be picky when figuring out where to spend their money. For average American college students, the price of college tuition already causes them to feel the strain. Any extra expenses, like textbooks, are put on the chopping block when students realize the outrageous prices and question if they are really necessary to success. Each semester, students need to decide whether they will sacrifice their bank account or their grade report. Students like me. My name is Kristyna Mauch and I am a senior at the University of Georgia (UGA). Currently, I am an intern at the Global Text Project held by the Terry College of Business at UGA and I am working for a better tomorrow when it comes to college textbooks.

The average textbook can cost anywhere from USD 50 to USD 200. Now multiply that by four to six classes with some classes requiring multiple books depending on your major. It all adds up to be a lot of money. College students that are working to support themselves or depending on federal loans cannot necessarily afford both textbooks and the essentials for life, like food and rent for their apartment. In these circumstances, making an economic decision to not purchase textbooks can negatively affect your grades but at least you will be able to buy enough Ramen noodles to get through the week. It all comes down to students ability to manage money, time and priorities.

Everyday students make these decisions of one or the other, but what if you could have both without sacrificing anything? That is what Global Text Project is working to do by making textbooks available online at no cost. Imagine, instead of standing in long lines to buy expensive, overpriced books, with a click of a button you can upload the necessary texts for your classes for free. There are so many advantages to this situation. With the extra money you saved by not spending it on textbooks, you can buy a month's worth of food. You will undoubtedly do better in your classes if you actually have the required books for the class and you do not have to worry about how your going to pay next month's rent because of purchasing textbooks.

Internationally, a textbook is a lot more outrageously priced when compared to their average daily expenses. According to Anup Shah in a report from globalissues.org, about 80 per cent of humanity live under USD 10 a day. In other words, It would take 10 days of work in order to buy one textbook for USD 100 in parts of the world that live in poverty or have poor economies. I believe this is a causing factor to the 121 million children out of education that Shah reports. By making textbooks free, like Global Text is trying to do, we can work to help educate those children. It may seem like something that would not be a problem in this day and age but according to Shah, a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name. This is definitely a real problem. Through Global Text Project, people can learn without an expense. This makes life a little bit easier financially and opens up the entire world through education. The benefits of education are unmeasurable but they are undoubtedly positive.

Making textbooks available online for free opens up all sorts of possibilities for university students around the world. This is why we, as interns at Global Text, do what we do. We believe in a cause that will help educate the many without interfering with the way they live. Just like an average American college student will not have to worry about paying for rent because of the cost of textbooks, an international student will not have to worry about paying for food or other vital necessities for life. Having access to free textbooks, gives us a new choice. Instead of choosing between the cost of living and the cost of learning, we get to choose the freedom of education. As interns, we want to give others this choice too.

Educating teachers in underveloped countries

My name is Whitney Wyatt and I am an intern for the Global Text Project. I knew that poverty was linked to the lack of education around the world, but I did not realize this is problem could be prevented. It was not until I began my internship with Global Text that I realized the importance of what we are attempting to accomplish by providing free textbooks for university students.

The need for higher education is a single part in an interrelated cycle within the primary educational system of underdeveloped countries. The more college educated teachers there are in the these countries, the more knowledge can be shared with younger generations. Global Text is trying to help make higher education more accessible and make education for everyone a reality.

Education in underdeveloped countries

Harsh facts:

• 75 million children primary school age are not receiving any education.
• More than half of these children are women.
• More than 70 per cent of these children are in South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa.
• Enrollment in a university in underdeveloped countries was less than 20 per cent, compared to the 67 per cent of developed countries.
  
• Around USD 167 is spent per child in these struggling countries.

These are very frightening statistics. It is hard for children to receive an education in underdeveloped countries. Those who have receive primary education may not finish their schooling because of more pressing concerns such as acquiring food and helping to support their family. Receiving education is an uncommon luxury and rarely a priority.

Teaching in underdeveloped countries
In underdeveloped counties, the ratio of students to teachers can be as extreme as 100 to 1. Classrooms and schools are full in countries like Ghana, but their resources are sparse. One textbook may need to be shared with 4 or 5 students, and the classrooms may be large, holding 70 or more students at one time. Forty-eight per cent of children in Africa do not have access to textbooks. Families in the Philippines earn an average of USD 1.53 a day; this barely provides an evening meal. The families usually eat rice and casaba roots throughout the year; this leaves them hungry and nutritionally deprived.

Because of such poor conditions, many people are reluctant to go into the teaching profession. Wages are extremely low for such a demanding job. The population of elementary school age children increases every year at an extreme rate. Unfortunately, the growth rate of educators is not as high.

The need for resources

Global Text is working to provide university students with the resources they need to help educate themselves and teach others. Spreading such knowledge is pivotal to promoting schooling and changing attitudes toward education in developing economies. Teachers working in undeveloped economies need the most help engaging their students and exposing them to the importance of learning. These teachers are attempting to change their country's perception of education student by student.

We can all contribute a small part by helping Global Text provide these admirable educators with resources they need. Contributing to the GTP library continuously will not only promote the ability for university students to access material, but it will also help teachers and educators globally because it be one more resource available that can help improve their own work. Through open education, there are countless ways to help fellow educators, we just need to make the choice to help.

BUZZZZ about e-readers

Hi, it's Desiree, GTP Intern.

So, there’s a ton of buzz lately, especially since the introduction of the iPad, to the idea of eReaders. How can you even begin to try to understand the differences? The first eReaders were mostly black and white and solely capable of viewing text. The second generation was also capable of simple graphics and web connectivity. What’s happening now though?

Here’s the major eReaders available on the market and a brief synopsis on each:

1. The iPad – Produced by Apple and release April 3, is unique because it is technically a tablet computer capable of using applications as opposed to an eReader. This could very well be the push towards color images, video, etc in eBooks. It will feature the iBooks application and several large publishers (Penguin, Harper-Collins, Macmillan) have already committed to publishing books for it and several magazines (GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired) are planning to sell subscriptions for the iPad.
2. The Nook – Produced by Barnes and Noble, based on the Android platform and started sales in November 2009. Features a 6 inch display, a microSD slot for extra storage, and a user replaceable battery. Has a “LendMe” feature that allows users to share certain books once with other users for up to two weeks.
3. The Kindle – Produced by Amazon, uses e-ink and has 16 shades of grey scale. Doesn’t connect to computers and uses Amazon’s Whispernet instead for downloading. Estimated 1.5 million devices sold as of December 2009.
4. The Sony Reader – Uses e-ink and had 8 levels of grey scale, and is viewable even in direct sunlight. It requires no power to maintain a static image and can be used in portrait or landscape modes. DRM settings allow books on Sony Readers to be read on up to 6 devices, but not to be shared. As of December 2008, 300,000 units had been sold since the Reader’s launch in 2006.

Of the four, all but the Nook are scheduled to sell more than 2 million units in 2010. Psst, if you happen to want more info and to see comparisons of more than these four, I recommend that you give this page a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_e-book_readers

What about formats? One of the biggest problems with eReaders is that you can’t just put any book on any reader and expect it to work. They’re more complicated than different music files and music players in this regard. Here’s the breakdown on which reader supports which type:

• Apple iPad: EPUB, PDF, HTML, DOC (plus iPad Apps, which could include Kindle and Barnes & Noble readers)
• Amazon Kindle: Kindle (AZW, TPZ), TXT, MOBI, PRC and PDF natively; HTML and DOC through conversion
• Barnes & Noble Nook: EPUB, PDB, PDF
• Sony Reader: EPUB, PDF, TXT, RTF; DOC through conversion (Gizmodo.com)

EPUB is the most supported form for ebooks and will very likey be what most of GTP’s text books are styled in once we move to make our books available for eReaders.

EPUB has become the most common format for digital publishing because it is free and openstandard, as well as being based in open specifications. This means that, like OpenOffice, anyone can use it and it can be changed to suit a variety of uses. EPUB is maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum, which consists of everyone from HarperCollins and McGraw-Hill to Adobe and HP in its membership. EPUB is such a flexible format that it was selected by Google to use for the Google Books project.

It’s XML based, so it’s great for storing information and offers some great benefits against other standards, like PDF, because of reflowable text and a page layout that can adjust to a device’s screen size. EPUB is also capable of using style sheets, embedded fonts, color images, SVG graphics, interactive elements, and video.

Sources:
http://gizmodo.com/5478842/giz-explains-how-youre-gonna-get-screwed-by-ebook-formats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nook
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad

Today at the GTP office...

Hello all. My name is Kala and I am an intern for the Spring 2010 semester with the Global Text Project at the University of Georgia.

***

Ed-it (-verb): to revise or correct, as a manuscript. Ed-i-tor (-noun): a person having managerial and sometimes policy-making responsibility for the editorial part of a publishing firm or of a newspaper, magazine, or other publication. The ed-it-ing proc-ess (-challenge): [see quotes].

Quotes*
1. “This feels like elementary school again, looking through this like, 'How did I miss that?'” - Desiree (intern), looking through “finished” chapters
“I know – welcome to the world of proofreading.” - Marisa (Associate Editor), in response
2. “...and – poof – it becomes an electronic text, but that's not how it happens.” - Marisa

*Collected over a mere ten minutes in the office.

Today in the GTP office – A representative sample of a typical day as a GTP intern:

The day started with uploading the pictures from my chapter in Tourism the International Business. This probably doesn't sound too bad – until you hear the (brief) biography of these pictures:
The pictures were created. The pictures were used. The pictures malfunctioned, causing mass read-errors throughout the textbook. Many an attempt at fixing the problem were made. Finally, one was discovered: only 17 easy steps to a perfect picture! All pictures in entire textbook were replaced. [see quote 2]

Our next task was to review the famous GTP Style Guide as a closing act to finishing up Tourism. This was to refresh our memories as to all of those little things that go into internationally standardizing any GTP chapter. For instance: normally in the US, we would write a doctor's title as “Dr. John,” GTP format would read “Dr John.” Not that we are bad interns, but there were multiple things we all needed reminding of concerning formatting and proofing in regard to GTP. Then again, as Marisa also said: “Copy editing skills will always need improvement.” Looking over the Style Guide was also accompanied by reviews of the Tourism chapters to see what we missed and what we still need work on [see quote 1] – basically proofreading our proofreading, which then gets proofread.

After that, I took care of some non-textbook related business. This included contributing some opinions on formulating a response to an article that ran in The Red & Black (UGA newspaper) about the need for textbooks to go digital (which is obviously a very good opportunity for some publicity). We also contributed to suggestions to further the specifications and clarity of the Style Guide.

Then, finally, I started working on our second book project, Managing for Productivity in the Hospitality Industry. I got through chapter one, remembering to apply all of the formatting and proofreading lessons that I reviewed (I hope), and tomorrow, I will go through chapter two. The first stage is always my favourite part, because there are such tangible results. Once a PDF goes through an OCR conversion, the interns get to work on formatting the text. Re-creating the textbook format using GTP standards is quite satisfying in a nerdy, proofreading-loving way.

The weeks following the initial formatting are a proofreading circus for interns in training. In the first week, each intern takes on an equal number of chapters (usually two or three, depending on the size of the book) and proofreads them on their own. Then the next week, we all, in a sense, switch chapters and re-proofread them. This happens two more times as well, so that we have all essentially looked over all of the chapters [see quote 2] and learned as much as about formatting as humanly possible. These chapters are then complied into a Master Document (which I got to see the workings of today) and looked over by Marisa. After this comes my special job.

My individual project for the GTP internship is publishing the final editions of our textbooks on a self-publishing and print-on-demand website called Lulu.com. As of now we have three books in both colour and black-and-white editions; we even ordered a copy of one. I go through the stages of publishing on Lulu with our final, Master PDF. This includes filling out all the information about the book, uploading the PDF, and creating covers for the books so that anyone can purchase printed copies. There are still some things I need to work out, however, such as how to get our books onto CDs and how to customize our storefront (which is up and running at http://stores.lulu.com/globaltextproject). Overall, I would put it as me being the icing on the textbook cake.

At the end of the, we had our weekly intern meeting at Transmetropolitan (Italian/pizza place downtown). We talked about all the developments that were/are/will be going on, such as ways we can get the word out about GTP, and T-shirts (buy one!), our upcoming projects, and evaluations. We, of course, ate pizza as well, which was a nice ending to a day of interning for The Global Text Project.

E-Texbooks Gaining Popularity in the United States

In the U.S., textbook companies and universities are taking initiatives to cut their textbook expenses as well as their environmental impact. Statistics from an article from Epoch Times show that 65% of educators plan to phase out traditional textbooks and replace them with electronic textbooks in the very near future. California is the first state to attempt an all-electronic textbook initiative, which began in 2009.

Even publishers like Macmillan announced that it will publish their textbooks in an all-new electronic format, as well. The new format is called DynamicBooks, and it allows teachers and professors to customize the textbook for the purposes of their classes. They will also be available for download on Apple's iPad, which will launch on April 3rd, 2010.

From an environmental standpoint, 12 trees are cut down for one ton of paper for textbooks, and only 5% of paper is recycled. Economically, California expects to save $2 million for going electronic.

This news that California is leading the movement in transtioning to electronic textbooks is good news for The Global Text Project. Recently, the Red and Black reported that UGA is planning to incorporate DynamicBooks in Fall of 2010. While the movement is still happening in the U.S., the more accessible electronic textbooks are here, the easier it will be for the Global Text Project to provide textbooks absolutely free of cost to developing countries and to put our mission into action.

Some questions for our readers:

How would using an electronic textbook be different from a traditional textbook for you? What advantages and disadvantages would you predict to find? Further, do any of you already use an e-Book reader, and which kind?

Students for Students

All of a sudden it is the beginning of March and we are rapidly nearing our first book deadline. It's amazing to see all the work that the interns have been able to accomplish thus far, especially since we have only been on board the project since the beginning of this year. Big things are beginning to happen in the world of open education.

Open Educational Resources says it best: "In a brave new world of learning, OER content is made free to use or share, and in some cases, to change and share again, made possible through licensing, so that both teachers and learners can share what they know," and that is exactly what we have been trying to do at Global Text.

This semester we have five student interns from the University of Georgia (UGA) working to make textbooks available to students around the world. The most amazing part of this collaboration is the fact that we have students working for the benefit of other students. The Global Text Project office on campus at UGA is a place where students work together to learn more about the process open education. We are in the midst of a learning curve that will create ripples around the world.

The children of the world today are quite literally our future, and as students ourselves it is amazing to think that we are helping pave the way for generations to come. In America we are blessed with the ability to go to school every day - but other people our age are not as fortunate. Every day in the office is one more step to impacting a fellow student's life.

Global Text Project is more than your average internship. Yes, we have set hours to be in the office and are gaining incredible resume boosters, but we are doing so much more. We are creating a link - a bond - between students around the globe that will last years after we have graduated and will enable the children of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.

United Nations Meeting Addresses Education Goals

At the United Nations meeting on January 19th, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed the issue of unequal global education. Ban pointed out that less than 55% of children in developing countries attend secondary school. Although there has been some progress, the recent UNESCO report indicated that countries not only need to increase efforts to reach out to children who are not achieving the UN's education goals, but also need to increase aid efforts. Ban encourages all countries to increase their aid for education so that the UN may meet their Millennium Development Goal for universal education, which states that all children everywhere will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015.

The UNESCO report on Deprivation and Marginalization in Education (DME) focuses on education poverty (or the proportion of those aged 17 to 22 with fewer than 4 years of education) in developing countries. You can also select specific countries, regions, and economies to compare on the chart. It also points out the issues of education disparities in these countries due to wealth, location, ethnic group, and language groups.

For example, in Niger, the education poverty is 76.04% for the whole country. That means that 76.04% of people between 17 and 22 have fewer than 4 years of education. UNESCO divides the data up into the wealthier class and the poorer class. You then find that the wealthier class in Niger only has 33.9% education poverty, whereas the poorer class has 91.7%. In Niger, the poorest 20% have had on average less than 1 year of education. The richest 20% have had on average 5.5 years of education. The disparities here are too striking not to address.

Thinking about Ban's statements and the UNESCO report, it is apparent that universal education is an issue that needs serious attention. Ban stated that education is "a fundamental human right." The Global Text Project wants to pursue that goal. Growing our open education system can help education move from an "accident of circumstance", as Ban put it, to that fundamental right.

More information on the UN meeting can be found here.

What Do Our Followers Think?
Do you think, with the help of organizations like Global Text Project, that the Millennium Development Goal for universal education will be achieved by 2015?

What other countries did you research on the UNESCO report charts?

Global Text Project Teams Up With Creative Consultants

The Global Text Project has reached out to the Public Relations Student Society of America at the University of Georgia to assist us with our PR campaign. Creative Consultants, a student-run PR firm, has paired us with a group of PR students: Staci Dale, Account Executive; Koby Kelsey, Junior Account Executive; Mamie Cargile; Cassidy Hoffman; Deena Lipson; and Christine Sawyer. During the Fall 2009 semester, our Creative Consultants group helped us with our logo redesign, our press releases, and other PR materials. They also organized an internship info session, which resulted in four GTP interns!

This semester, our Creative Consultants team has a social media campaign in store, so be sure to keep up with our Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger! Keep an eye out for videos, too! We look forward to engaging with our supporters through our social networks!

What Do Our Followers Think?

Do any of you rely on social media to keep in touch with other nonprofit organizations? If so, which ones do you think are using social media successfully? We'd love to hear your thoughts!