We've seen the same sort of thing enough times in other areas to know how this is going to pan out, mostly.
A few teachers will make some money selling lesson plans and such. School boards will get into the act, claiming they own the rights to this work. There will be a lot of debate, and an attempt to formalize the marketplace. Large providers will express interest. meanwhile, others will be sharing lesson plans and such for free, which the providers will say is undercutting the market. There will be a push toward standardization and quality assurance. The marketplace will be formalized. Then, research will find that teachers are not, in fact, reusing the lesson plans that have been shared. Attempts will be made to formalize usage, to ensure that teachers use only the commercially available lesson plans. An alternative, open source, provider will spring up, offering the same resources, with the standards and certifications, for free. But by this time, the use of predefined lesson plans will have become irrelevant, as teacher practices and technology takes them in another direction. Sceptics will lament the millions wasted on lesson plans that were never used.
So - does that sound about right? We now return you to your New York Times article, that breathlessly announces the creation of this new market, and a response from an outraged Apple author.
A few teachers will make some money selling lesson plans and such. School boards will get into the act, claiming they own the rights to this work. There will be a lot of debate, and an attempt to formalize the marketplace. Large providers will express interest. meanwhile, others will be sharing lesson plans and such for free, which the providers will say is undercutting the market. There will be a push toward standardization and quality assurance. The marketplace will be formalized. Then, research will find that teachers are not, in fact, reusing the lesson plans that have been shared. Attempts will be made to formalize usage, to ensure that teachers use only the commercially available lesson plans. An alternative, open source, provider will spring up, offering the same resources, with the standards and certifications, for free. But by this time, the use of predefined lesson plans will have become irrelevant, as teacher practices and technology takes them in another direction. Sceptics will lament the millions wasted on lesson plans that were never used.
So - does that sound about right? We now return you to your New York Times article, that breathlessly announces the creation of this new market, and a response from an outraged Apple author.
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