www.mathtv.com ... great resource for OpenSource text

If you haven't had the opportunity yet, visit www.mathtv.com. To see the videos you have to subscribe, but don't panic... it is free to subscribe! And if you are worried about getting a lot of junk email newsletters crowding up your inbox, just don't choose the newsletter box (with is not checked by default).

The videos are of high quality and are put together by professional educators. The authors of the site do a great job at problem selection and presentation. On most of the videos, you (or your students) can pick which presenter you would like. On many (but not all) of the topics, there includes a presentation in spanish as well. I really love this feature! I find myself watching the spanish presenters more than the english presenters. Since I already know the math and mathematics itself is universal, I find it refreshing to hear it in spanish.

If you have ever been part of a selection committee of a new textbook, you will have noticed that the major textbook companies try to entice you with features like the videos presented on MathTV. But that is the nice thing about the open source movement, most of these features that are advertised are already available in the online community... if you know where to look.

Speaking of advertizing, this is the one slightly annoying feature of MathTV... commercials. As you click from video to video, commercials will come up during the transition. You dont have to watch them and they will end as soon as you start your next video. Now only if my TV at home would do this! Maybe MathTiVo would have been a better name for this site:)

In later posts we will explore how to opensource the worksheet generators that textbook companies package in their products... stay tuned!