iBooks, iPads and iTunes U
Apple recently announced changes to a few apps and a new program that will likely play a big role in education, particularly if your institution is using iPads. iBooks was upgraded to allow the program to support epub 3, books that are rich in media and interactivity. Apple also entered into an agreement with textbook publishers to create true media rich texts. The books are currently priced at about $15 much cheaper then a paper textbook but not reusable or resalable.
Apple introduced the program iBooksAuthor that allows people to assemble similar books. These books can be freely distributed to others. But if you plan on selling the books you assembled in iBA they must be sold through the Apple iBooks store. As educators we would most likely create these books for our students and freely distribute them.
Assembling the book in iBA is fairly simple. The time and effort is in creating and collecting the text and media elements that would be included in creating such a book. Organization is half the battle. As a scientist at heart I am very much interested in the widget that allows you to insert 3D images. These could be used to enhance modeling such as organelle structure and protein structure. I bet there were will be many people learning how to create 3D images for books.
Apple also gave iTunesU an overhaul. iTunesU is no longer just a way to distribute and subscribe to podcasts but is looking more like a course management system. Schools can set up and manage their own iTunes site and courses. Again that will be the easy part, gathering materials and creating courses that will be whole other matter. Today educators need to know their content, understand how people learn, and have an ability to motivate and inspire. But they also need to be multimedia creators, producers, designers, programers and authors. Not to mention experts in data and assessment. Things they are a changin’.
10 thoughts on “iBooks, iPads and iTunes U”
Hi Beth, my name is Stephanie Hogue. I am an Elementary Education Student at the University of South Alabama. EDM310 is one of the first Education courses required by the university. EDM310 is a course that teaches Education students how to use technology effectively in the classroom. One of the many things we are learning, is how to blog successfully, and learn from other Educators around the country, as well as, around the world. As part of my assignment, I read your most recent blog post, and I will be posting a summary of at least two of your blog posts on my blog stephanie hogue’s blog on February 12 2012. Your blog post about iBooks, iPads, and iTunesU was very useful to me, especially since I just recently learned about iTunesU. I think iBooks can be a great education tool. I love that they can be interactive and have 3D images. I know, as a student, I learn so much more by actually seeing how things work. This could work for visual and hands on learners, and maybe auditory learners as well. However, I do wish that they could be reusable. I really like to be able to refer to my text when I need to refresh my memory on something. Another positive aspect of the iBooks, is that they are they are green. Hopefully, many school districts will be able to incorporate these products into their schools and save money at the same time. Thanks for the information in your blog. I really enjoyed reading and learning from your blog post. It made me realize that as Educators or future Educators we have to continually learn and be open to new learning experiences in order to provide the best Education possible.
stepahnie’s class blog
This is the correct link.
Apples agreement with publishers will benefit lots of people and the environment. Students will be able to save lots of money by paying little to no money for access to books online. This will be most beneficial for college student like myself. Every semester I spend between $400 to $700 for textbooks. Sometimes I lose money because they don’t buy them back at the end of the semester. Going paperless is also good for the environment because it will help save trees.
Thank you, Beth for the informative article on the newest sensation to enter the classroom: iBooks!
I feel confident that the generation of students able to interact with this technology within the lesson plan will benefit greatly. I find the ability to manipulate images absolutely amazing. I learn by doing, not by listening or reading. I do not personally own an iPad or iPhone but have seen a few in action and am stunned at how efficiently they can be integrated into so many applications. I have a lot to learn and am in the perfect setting to do just that.
I grew up with an old encyclopedia collection in my home. I relied on it heavily for many years. Yep, I depended on the same information, never changing, never expanding, and always stagnant. I can’t imagine how exciting a 3-D interaction must be. I must admit that I am a little bit jealous of my own daughters and how proficient they are and how fast they adapt to the very latest gadget on the market.
I used iTunes for an online music appreciation course last year at the University of Alabama here in Mobile, Alabama. It was easy and I used it constantly. My instructor liked how easy it was to deliver the best concise samples to his classes. The last time I attended college this course would have required a large volume of records, gasp! I was glad iTunesU was free and didn’t add anything to my backpack. As it is my backpack can easily weigh around 25 pounds on any given day. Last semester it was worse! My new little notebook helps out a lot with this weight issue.
I remember when televisions were “given” to classrooms and the backlash they created with teachers. I don’t believe they lived up to the hype or promise. I knew a teacher who covered hers with a towel and muted it just to be able to not be randomly interrupted during the day. I look forward to this new interactive experience. Apple doesn’t disappoint their audience. And you are so correct when you said, “Things they are a changin’.”
Laura Holifield,
http://holifieldlauraedm310.blogspot.com/
Elementary Ed. student, EDM310 with Dr. Strange
We are hoping to have educators, departments and teams of teachers and create our own iBooks to be used in our school. it is not yet a reality but as teachers gather and created media it can be collected and assembled in to other formats – slide shows, dynamic documents and digital books. If schools created them they can be tailored made for our uses, updated as needed and reusable. Students would not need to turn them in but keep them as a reference for higher level classes.
When it comes to higher ed and private schools the cost savings is huge. But in K12 schools this would require constant re purchasing of books each year for the new group of students. Instead of buy a paper book and reusing for the next 10 years or so. It will also required students to have iPads – not a cheap prospect. But in higher ed where students are required to by their own supplies this is a boon.
Hi Laura,
I remember the old encyclopedia set well. I have my mother’s from the 1940’s and the one I used as a child. They are still a treasure to me. I used to say up late surfing the pages of the books as a teen, not unlike my children who surf the web now. I used to talk on the phone for hours now they text for hours. Same behavior different medium. The tools and mediums are changing but learning, making connections and meaning, that process is pretty much the same. If you give a student a new tool – they never ask when is the workshop or the training on how to use it they just do. Some how teachers have an expectation that new tools require training. A tool is just a tool – learn, play, explore – just as we expect our children to. It is the fear I think that holds up back. Be fearless, be a child and just go for it.
Hi Beth! My name is Jason Spoor. I am a high school teacher in the Chicago suburbs. I was very interested in your article. I currently teach a class that does not have a standard textbook. The idea of putting together my own is very intriguing and pretty exciting. I agree with you completely that the time is in the assembly of quality materials to put into this text! The potential is pretty amazing and exciting… As a history and social studies teacher to be able to update the text when a new discovery is published would be an amazingly valuable tool!
Jason,
Thanks for the comment. As a teacher you know that time is always an issue. To single handily modify an existing text as new information or examples arise is a ‘do-able” thing; to create that text single handily is a pretty daunting task. As teachers review curriculum, particularly now as many states adopt the federal common core, that they begin to share and collect these resources and collaboratively build these text for use by their staff and students. Many hand make light work.
This sort of technology may forever change the way students read their textbooks/material. For example, instead of looking at complicated and stationary images in textbooks of cells to learn about their parts and functionality, students may be able to click a short video on and watch a cell in action. I think this technology is great! It is also green, and may be much cheaper than buying textbooks (and as a college student, I know that is a huge benefit)!