Released: Nation's First Interactive Web 2.0 Open Source Textbook Free to Students Through For-Profit Giant, Nonprofit Team

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 20 Million Minds Foundation (20MM) announced a new digitally enhanced etextbook for college students based on open content.  The non-profit has set its sight on producing open source etextbooks for the top 25 courses taken by undergraduates in the nation, with general statistics being one of largest of such courses.

Starting today, Collaborative Statistics 2^nd Edition is available for students with an interactive experience using videos, applets, graphics, interactive exercises, and a variety of navigation and study features.  This version is available at kno.com for the web browser, on Windows, and Apple Mac based systems and iPad tablet.

Collaborative Statistics, 2nd Edition, was written and updated by Barbara Illowsky and Susan Dean, faculty members at De Anza College in Cupertino, California. This textbook is intended for introductory statistics courses taken by students at two- and four-year colleges.

In California community colleges alone, over 120,000 students every year take the general statistics course. With an average new book price of over $150, students pay anywhere between $10 and $18 million per year for this basic statistics course. With the new enhanced digital offering, students will experience a free PDF https://www.kno.com/book/details/productId/txt9780983804905 for the course or the enhanced version under $20 for the semester.

"One of the criticisms leveled at open textbooks is that the quality somehow suffers because they do not have the 'imprimatur' of the commercial publishers.  After today, we will no longer view open source books the same way. Today our collaboration with Kno will showcase future open source books with Web 2.0 capabilities able to outperform commercial publications at every level," said Dean Florez, a past Senate Majority Leader in California.

Today marks the first merger between a for-profit giant, Kno, and non-profit, 20MM, to actually deliver an open source book through a vibrant leading edge commercial platform, offering faculty another quality choice.

"The opportunity to partner with Kno allowed us to leverage their groundbreaking education platform, application and national distribution capability to create a truly amazing etextbook based on open content," said Florez. He added, "Our overall target is aimed at massive faculty adoption throughout the nation by spring of 2012."

For more information contact Mayra Lombera, +1- 916-442-9300, [email protected].

SOURCE The 20 Million Minds Foundation