Listening English lesson

Going Digital: California’s Textbook Project

March 14th, 2010 at 09:34am Under Education report

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

California has a new program called the Digital Textbook Initiative.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: “Starting this fall with high school math and science, we will be the first state in the nation — the first state in the nation — to provide schools with a state-approved list of digital textbooks.”

That was Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in June, talking about his effort to get schools to use materials available free online. He listed reasons why he thinks digital textbooks make sense.

About 2,000 California school employees march in San Jose on August 5 to protest state budget cuts, in a California School Employees Association photo

California approves traditional textbooks in six-year cycles. Digital ones can offer the latest information. They lighten the load of school bags. They save paper and trees, and make learning more fun and interactive. And lastly he said they help schools with their finances.

The state has had to make severe cuts in school spending because of deep financial problems. More than six million students attend California public schools.

Earlier this year, California invited content developers to offer digital math and science materials for high schools. These had to meet at least ninety percent of the state’s learning requirements. Specially trained teachers examined sixteen textbooks and approved ten of them.

Six of the ten were published by the CK12 Foundation. Co-founder Neeru Khosla says the nonprofit group had been developing digital science and math books for about two years. The foundation paid teachers and other education professionals to write and edit them. The money came from a group financed by the Khosla family. The AMAR Foundation also supports projects in India.

California cannot require schools to use the digital textbooks. Individual school districts will have to decide for themselves.

Susan Martimo, a California Department of Education official, says she does not expect widespread use right away. Her best guess is that some schools with a lot of technology will be the first to use them, but only in addition to their traditional books.

School administrators point out that the texts may be free online, but students need a way to access them. Not everyone has a computer or electronic reader. Schools could print out copies, but that would not help the environment. Also, there is the cost to train teachers to use digital textbooks effectively.

Next week: a look at digital textbooks in college. And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. You can find transcripts and podcasts of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

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Words and Their Stories: If a Student’s Grades Hit Bottom, It Is Time to Hit the Books

March 13th, 2010 at 07:17am Under Words and their stories

Expressions involving the word hit.

Now, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - a VOA Special English program about American expressions.  I’m Rich Kleinfeldt with some expressions containing the word hit.

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Hit is a small word but it has a lot of power.  Baseball players hit the ball.  Missiles hit an airplane.  A car hits a tree.

Hit also joins with other words to create many colorful expressions.  One is hit the road. It means to travel or to leave a place, as suggested in this song, “Hit the Road.”

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Another common expression is hit the spot.  At first it meant hitting a spot at the center of a target with an arrow.  Someone who did so was satisfied with his shooting.  Now, hitting the spot usually means that a food or drink is especially satisfying.

Many years ago, Pepsi Cola sold its drink with a song that began, “Pepsi Cola hits the spot, twelve full ounces, that’s a lot…”

Another expression involving hit is hit bottom.  Something that has hit bottom can go no lower.  If the price of shares of a stock hits bottom that might be the time to buy it.  Its value can only go up.

A student who tells you his grades have hit bottom is saying he has not done well in school.

When a student’s grades hit bottom it is time to hit the books.  Hit the books is another way to saying it is time to study.  A student might have to tell her friends she can not go with them to the movies because she has to hit the books.

Not hitting the books could lead to an unpleasant situation for a student.  The father or mother may hit the ceiling when they see the low grades.  Someone who hits the ceiling, the top of the room, is violently angry.  A wife may hit the ceiling because her husband forgot their wedding anniversary.

To build something of wood, you usually need a hammer.  That is what you use to hit nails into the pieces of wood to hold them together.  When you hit the nail on the head, exactly on its top, it goes into the wood perfectly.  And when someone says your words or actions hit the nail on the head, he means what you said or did was exactly right.

If you are tired after hitting all those nails on the head, then it is time to hit the hay.  That expression comes from the days when people slept on beds filled with dried grass or hay. Some people slept on hay in barns where they kept their farm animals.

Hitting the hay simply means going to bed. That is a good idea. I think I will hit the hay now.

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This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Frank Beardsley. I’m Rich Kleinfeldt.

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