Podcast: The IDEMS Podcast

Lily and David continue their discussions on converting open textbooks into PreTeXt. They focus on the “Learning Statistics with …” ecosystem, where an original open book has spawned variants for R, JASP, Jamovi, CogStat, French, and potential new versions such as R-Instat. They explore how PreTeXt could better manage multiple independently maintained variants by identifying…

Lucie and David discuss the tension between two of IDEMS’ principles: being “collaborative by nature” and “enabling opportunity” for individuals. They contrast rising Western individualism with more community-focused African contexts where personal sacrifice can support collective coherence. They argue collaboration and individual success aren’t contradictory, citing Italian cooperatives, worker-owned factories, and the importance of compromise…

Michele and David discuss humanoid robots, and argue the real question isn’t when they arrive, but how different societies will accept and use them. They push back on framing humanoids mainly as worker replacements, suggesting their biggest impact may be social—especially in contexts like Italy’s aging population and shrinking workforce, where care needs are growing.…

When does measuring the “wrong” thing produce better results than measuring the “right” one? Lily and David continue the mini-series on Research Methods Support for Climate Resilient Food Systems with a story about proxy variables from West African farmer trials: measuring millet head weight at harvest proved a more reliable proxy for grain yield than…

Learning doesn’t come through passive consumption of information, but through doing. In this episode, Lily and David discuss the integration of STACK exercises into the PreTeXt textbooks that Lily has been working on – take a look at some previous episodes for more details. What if open textbooks could share the same bank of deep,…

What if educational resources could be available in a limitless variety of variants, each adapted to the tools students actually use? In this episode, David talks to Lily about a project she has been working on to convert open statistics and data science textbooks into the PreTeXt format. The discussion highlights why PreTeXt’s semantic structure…

Following previous episodes on Kenyan maths textbooks, Santiago and David reflect on the project from IDEMS’ perspective. They discuss the rapid push to complete open Grade 10 mathematics resources, driven by urgent teacher needs under the new curriculum and growing interest from the Kenyan Ministry of Education and CEMASTEA. They outline the core tools: a…

How do textbooks function differently across educational systems, and what happens when those systems operate in low-resource environments? Following on from previous episodes on the CBC open textbooks project in Kenya, Lucie Hazelgrove-Planel and David Stern discuss textbooks more generally. They discuss the different roles textbooks play in different educational contexts, and how a lack…

Students are increasingly turning to LLMs (Large Language Models) to solve maths exercises and get feedback. In light of this, is there still a place for deterministic online assessment tools like STACK? In this episode, Michele and David argue that this problem is an opportunity for educators and developers to build better alternatives, potentially embedding…

David interviews Michael Obiero on the challenges of implementing Kenya’s new Grade 10 Competency-Based Curriculum, such as resource shortages and unprepared teachers. To address these issues, they are developing digital resources, online courses, and a teacher support platform. Their grassroots initiative aims to create community-driven, context-sensitive solutions with the help of volunteers and limited funding.…