What's a Living Textbook?

I've been throwing around the term "Living Textbook" for months. But nearly a year ago when I first told David Warlick about my idea to develop daily ideas to promote discussion about current events, he asked me how these ideas would be different than newsletters that came out twenty years ago. How would I take advantage of the tools that Web 2.0 offers.

This question is not just about my Living Textbook. I think it's about educational resource material, in general. How is it different in the age of Web 2.0?

Questions to consider:
1. What would be the point of placing videos on the Living Textbook that relate to the current event under discussion? Sure, these videos might be appealing to watch, but how are the different than the videos on Encarta's early software?
2. If kids make their own vodcasts, can you call them vodcasts if nobody responds to them? If nobody responds to the vodcast, other than the teacher, what's the difference between producing a vodcast and videotaping something and turing in the video tape for the teacher to watch on their VCR player?
3. What's the point of offering educators the opportunity to edit, comment on, and expand lesson ideas if nobody's going to read their ideas? Couldn't these educators simply make notes on their own paper, napkins or hands rather than making their ideas public?
4. Does there come a point when the amount of infomration on the Internet is "Information Overload," where the Web 2.0 becomes counterproductive? Nobody has the time to respond?
5. Is it possible that I'm wasting my time in thinking about how to make the Living-Textbook interactive?
6. What role do social computing sites, like ning, fill in Web 2.0. Is it possible that they represent the answer to many of the questions listed above? Why/why not?

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