iBooks 2-A New Way of Learning

Ryan McCready
Pi Kappa Alpha

A few weeks ago, Apple gathered a room full of fanboys and tech writers to announce their newest endeavor, digital textbooks. It was reminiscent of the iPhone and iPad announcements done by the late Steve Jobs, with his vision of changing the way we learn. Apple has always offered books and e-reader apps on the iDevices, but this is the first time that they are offering full screen textbooks. They also are expanding iTunesU, which connects the teachers to the students.

To make sure there are plenty of titles available, Apple has partnered with many of the big publishers such as Pearson Education, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. These publishers make most of the books that we use. Most of these hard cover books cost upwards of $10,0 and to be only used for one semester seems like a waste. Even the eBook versions cost way too much for what they are. Apple has decided to change this by putting a $15 cap on all of the textbooks. With that you could get an iPad and all of your digital books for about the same price as one semester's worth of books.

First lets talk about the many features of the digital textbooks. One thing that makes them great is how easy they are to access. It is exactly like downloading an app and can be retrieved from any of the devices. Also, just like the apps, if there are updates to the books they can be downloaded at no extra charge.

Amazon offers textbooks for the Kindle readers, but they are very bland. Apple is making each of the textbooks interactive and touch-based. In each of the books there will be videos, interactive pictures and 3D images that can be manipulated. Think about how much easier it would be to learn if you are able to change the way you looked at something.

One of the things that intrigued me was the quizzes and practice problems that are also interactive. This could potentially get rid of those “clickers” that we all despise. Along with the cut, copy and paste tools that are currently on the iPad, the textbooks will also feature a highlighting and notetaking tool. Whatever you highlight will automatically be put onto a digital notecard as well as the vocab from each chapter. I use notecards for almost every class and this will definitely cut down on study time. 

With the iBooks Author program, teachers can create custom textbooks and add them to the app store for the students to access. Pairing this with iTunes U, teachers will be able to create a completely different environment for learning.

Overall, it seems like an iPad will soon be an essential for every college student and teacher.

Ryan is a junior studying international business. You may contact him at rmccread@uark.edu.