Modulo the motivating problem you mention, the digital textbook medium you propose seems to solve all three, assuming new, revised “editions” are released every now and then. Do you have any thoughts about how it compares with a Wiki medium?
Hm. I think that Wikis might be easier to maintain, perhaps? There seem to be a lot of additional considerations when you’re writing to teach and not just to explain / inform.
5) Explaining ideas in detail makes it harder to follow the big picture.
On re-readings of the material, sometimes I wish I could “compress” explanations I already understand to focus on the higher picture and relations between ideas. Skimming seems the thing to do, but it requires some sort of indexing, and right now I feel like digital media should be able to offer more powerful ways of doing this.
This matches my experience. I’d like some way of “collapsing” certain paragraphs, or labeling them as “basically just about X” to help with overall comprehension.
Hm. I think that Wikis might be easier to maintain, perhaps? There seem to be a lot of additional considerations when you’re writing to teach and not just to explain / inform.
This matches my experience. I’d like some way of “collapsing” certain paragraphs, or labeling them as “basically just about X” to help with overall comprehension.