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Apple enter educational era

20.01.2012

Watch this video to see exactly what Apple has in store for the educational world.

Apple aims to drive the use of electronic textbooks in the classroom by making it easier for publishers to create interactive titles.

The company has announced a range of new tools and services which it claims will “reinvent the textbook”. Leading names in educational resources are involved, including the world’s biggest, UK-based Pearson Publishing.

Also on display was iBooks Author, a free program that will allow educators and authors to make their own interactive books for the iPad.

Apple has also said it has enhanced iTunes U – the educational section of its iTunes store – to allow a wider breadth of university level resources.

The company’s senior vice-president, Philip Schiller, said books aimed at high school students would be priced at $14.99 (£10) or below. ”Having movies and videos embedded; being able to search; look up a glossary; write your own notes and then going to exam questions… just tying it all together on one device is a magical experience I think for the the children.”Allen Weiner, research vice president for Gartner, warned that Apple had a battle on its hands against other existing competitors.

“They’re competing with companies like Adobe head on – which is currently the product most people use to create books and magazines. Adobe has learned, particularly in the last six months or so, that there’s a need for cross-platform publishing. Apple are taking the opposite approach – basically forcing people to have either Macs or iPads.”

Apple will also compete with existing offerings from Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook device.

It’s an exciting time for education as technology plans to take interactive learning to a whole new level.

Source: BBC