Many schools and districts are discussing the possibilities of adopting 1:1 devices such as the iPad. They are conducting trials to work out the technical issues and have teachers begin to think about how to integrate them in the classroom.  One of the reasons schools give for this move is to be rid of traditional textbooks and move to digital books.  However many digital textbooks are just non-interactive PDFs of their print cousins and cost about the same.

Apple recently announced an agreement with traditional textbook publishers to create truly interactive digital texts that use the full potential of an Internet connected multimedia platform.  These books are engaging, beautiful and the cost is reduced to $14.95. These books, available only through Apple iBooks, will require a paradigm shift for schools.  When a school buys a print textbook, it is clearly owned by the school and reused over a number of years. Apple’s pricing reflects the average cost for a HS textbook of $70, over the course of a 5 yr textbook refresh cycle the text cost $14 a year.  Schools would need to rethink textbooks as a once every 5+ yr purchase per subject to a recurring cost situation.

Ownership is a whole other situation.  Unlike traditional computers where the application or program was linked to a device in the new model apps and books are linked to an account. This new model of ownership is a difficult concept for some to grasp.  When a school purchases an app, or a book the account that redeemed the code is the owner of the app or book. The school cannot take it back or re-issue it.  Apps and books become consumables.  Schools can retain ownership only if they set up school managed accounts (a school email account and a corresponding apple ID) and use these accounts to redeem apps and books. This works for a few devices but management on a larger scale is not an easy task and may require additional personal and iPad management software like JAMF’s Casper to make it feasible.