![]() ![]() I thought ads were going to pop up all of sudden." The school's students generally prefer e-books from Inkling, a Silicon Valley startup that works directly with authors to reconstruct content, including video, audio, a social networking feature for communicating with other students, and 3-D graphics that can be manipulated with finger strokes. Gonzalo Garcia, director of technology, marketing and communications for South Kent School, a private boarding school for 9th through 12 graders in South Kent, Conn, is also intrigued by the pricing: "The thing that got me was the $15 price tag. And it's not insignificant that the textbooks are modestly priced." "It brings the best to biology and keeps that up to date in a form that allows a great deal of self-teaching and exploration by teacher and learner alike."įorrester analyst Frank Gillett says that, "the big deal here is the big jump in the authoring app and the fact that it's free. ![]() "This is an authentic game-changing development," Wilson says. Wilson is also being made available the first two chapters are free, with the additional 39 chapters (coming over 24 months) "aggressively priced." One of the books we have has 50 hours of video in it, so that's a completely new set of interesting material that students have never had before."Īpple is also working with DK Publishing on titles that coverĭinosaurs, insects, mammals and the ABCs. Pearson CIO and Director of Digital Strategy Genevieve Shore says, "Although we kind of use the metaphor of the book to describe what these products are, they're not really books at all. Early publishing partners include Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which collectively control 90% of the market, with some titles available immediately. Though Apple is targeting the new textbooks at any age or grade level, the initial emphasis is on high school textbooks. It can enable the teacher to have tools to excite kids that are otherwise hard to reach." "No one is saying technology is the only part of the solution," Schiller said in an interview. ![]() And the books can automatically turn student notes into study cards. They can tap a word for a glossary definition and drag their finger to highlight a passage. Students studying high school biology, for example, can view 3D animated models of structures within a cell. Previously available only for the higher-education market, Apple is letting K-12 schools participate for the first time.Īpple's hope is that students will find the new textbooks engaging. ![]() IBooks 2, a free app for reading interactive full-screen digital textbooks that makes liberal use of video and animations, was unveiled Thursday in New York by Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing.Īpple also announced iBooks Author, a free software application for Macintosh computers with custom templates to help authors create and publish their own digital textbooks.Īpple is broadening its iTunes U program beyond audio and video lectures by adding an app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch that allows professors to create full online courses, with assignments, books, quizzes and syllabi. — - Apple is bringing its brand-name power to the fledgling market for electronic textbooks. ![]()
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