For the past year I have been working with Mike Dias writing the second edition of The Art of Teaching Science.

For the most part, the process has been a Web 2.0 experience. We’ve used a variety of web tools to create the second edition of the book. We started by using Google Docs which is a place where you can put files and then share editing with others, in this case Mike and myself. I uploaded all of the word files from the first edition of Art, so that we could see the entire book at Google docs. I found it an interesting way to get started, but we abandoned the idea after working on the first two chapters.

We then got into a groove of Jack doing the first pass on the chapter, sending via e-mail to Mike for a second pass, and then back to me. It then went to Routledge’s New York office were Elizabeth Renner headed the editing group for the book. They edited it on a first pass, and then emailed it back to us. We then had a short time to examine their review, and make the changes that were needed. Documents went back and forth between Mike and I, and then we sent all of the text files, table files, and figure files in final form back to New York.

During this process, which took about seven months, not one page of text, tables or figures was printed out for examination. Everything was done on the computer; no hard copies.

So from June 2007 to January 2008, we created the files, all of which were edited for the second edition.

In keeping with a Web 2.0 tradition, we also created a Companion Website hosted by Routledge. We integrated the content of the Companion Website with the second edition, and again this was done in an online environment. You can take a look at the Companion Site now, even though the book won’t be published until July 2008. The Companion Website contains student and teacher materials. It was a way for us to include more content, but also feature aspects of the Art of Teaching Science in a Web environment.

For example, we created Powerpoint slides for each chapter that students and teachers can use to explore nature of the book online. Click here for an example. We also created teaching notes in the form of Syllabus Helpers and Agenda Strategies for the instructor, as well.

For the students, we posted all of the interviews we did with about 20 practicing science teachers, representing a variety of countries, and years of teaching experience. These Science Teacher Talk sessions are organized by chapter, and based on a 17 item questionnaire we used with teachers. Here’s an example from Chapter 1. We included other resources for students including links to all of the sites mentioned in the text, lesson examples, and other features.

In Febrary 2008, the book’s files were sent to Swales & Willis Ltd, the Innovation Centre, University of Exeter Campus, U.K. under the direction of Dr. Richard Willis. They organized the copyediting of the book, and we were in contact with the copyeditor who sent email queries that we responded to on the Web. This happened during the month of March 2008. In very early April we received the PDF files for the page proofs for the entire book, a little better than 500 pages.

At this point, we had to face the fact that that we needed a hard copy of the book. I went on the Web, and located the Kinko’s closest to my home, and sent them an email attachment containing the PDF file. I drove to the Kinkos that I thought I had contacted, only to find that the book was printed at another Kinkos about 15 miles away.

With 500 pages to review, Mike and I split the book in half, and then switched when each of us completed our separate reviews. We had to make changes, but overall, they were minor.

The next task was to create the index. We purchased a 1000 3 x 5 index cards, and I went through the book, writing words and phrases, as well as page numbers, one per card. My wife and I worked together on this, and we ended up with about 1500 index cards, each of which contained some piece of the content of the book.

Fortunately with Word, you can make a long list of entries, and then alphabitize them by clicking on Table and Sort. The index is 30 pages (single-spaced). The entries for the letter “s” took an hour and 15 minutes to type into word. Here’s an image of the “s” cards compared to “q” cards, which came in last.

Unfortunately, I have to use postal mail to return the edited page proofs, and they will be sent to England. The proofs weight about 6 pounds 8 ounces, and if they are sent via FedX, it will cost about $138, and if sent Global Express (USPS), it will only cost about $45.

We tried to keep this a Web 2.0 endeavor. Only at the end did we have to use atoms and molecule to communicate our ideas, rather than bytes.

So, sometime next week, we’ll ship the page proofs to Dr. Willis in England, and they will be reviewed again. We’ll receive a final set of page proofs on PDF that we can examine. When that process is finished the final-final PDF files will be emailed to a printer in the U.S., and the book will be printed in July, 2008. I began the process looking for a new publisher in January 2007, and in July 2008, the second edition will be published.