On January 19, 2012, Apple made a significant announcement that could change the educational landscape forever. There are several parts to the announcement – one is a software application that enables anyone to create a ‘text book’ and the other is a distribution platform for textbooks inside of the already popular iBooks application (a free download that runs on the iPad or iPhone.).

iBooks 2 is an upgrade to the iBooks application that is the primary reading application of iOS. The application allows for easy highlighting and annotation – and enables quick dictionary lookups for words that need defining. The application has the ability to display full-color, interactive, multimedia content which means audio, video, and 3D diagrams can be touched, rotated and explored. The application also adds a few additional features like, turning notes, highlights, and annotations into an interface resembling browsable index cards (flash cards).

iBooks Author is a free application that enables authors (anyone running Mac OS X Lion) to develop and publish their content and distribute it in the iBookstore. iBooks Author enables embedding Keynote presentations into books to become interactive elements and, for the more technically savvy, developers can build ‘widgets’ in HTML5 and JavaScript that can ‘run’ on a page in an iBook.

In my opinion, this announcement is both evolutionary and revolutionary.

Evolutionary

As I’ve already written, the iPad is a great form factor to change the nature of textbooks. The possibility of carrying around 100s or 1000s of books in one device is a compelling argument alone to consider getting textbooks to be digital.

Even though the iPad is only 2 years old, I think it’s a natural evolution for textbooks to move to a digital platform. Everything in our world is being digitized (or will be) and it makes sense for text  books to be able to be updated in real time (any time) at a cost that is virtually free rather than the investment it takes to republish and distribute millions of books every few years.

It’s also evolutionary for Apple to apply their talents for creating great software products to create a platform for authors and publishers to easily (relatively) create and distribute their work. With iBooks Author authoring and publishing an e-Book becomes something accessible to the masses.

Revolutionary

The revolutionary part is where things get interesting.

Not only does iBooks Author create the potential to engage everyone in the education and publishing industries (making everyone a publisher is a real equalizing and disruptive change to the status quo), it also creates the possibility to turn the learning equation on its head.

Because of the power of the iPad and all the other functions it can perform, I don’t think it will take long before we see textbooks incorporating elements of movies (drama), documentaries, multi-player role playing games, news casting, encyclopedias, dictionaries, language translators and more. For instance, embedding something like Google Earth into a book would allow for the power of Google Earth exploration within the context of a learning .

It makes sense to me that pedagogy and instructional methods will, at a minimum, evolve into a more interactive and dynamic activity. In the most extreme case I could imagine everything we know about teaching and learning being transformed just by the simple fact that a learner can have a device that enables not only a rich media experience of content but also serves so many functions at the same time (email, web browser, game console, video communicator, etc.) that the role of the teacher morphs into something completely different from what we’ve known or seen before.

We’ve already seen something like the Khan Academy flip traditional schooling upside down by having students ‘watching’ lectures on their own time outside of school and using the in school time for more collaborative and interactive activities with their peers (with teachers being more like coaches).

I can imagine this kind of thing happening more – but even different. The actual location where ‘learning’ takes place is no longer as important. But, as educators have been saying for a long time, meaning making (making connections) can shift to the group setting (like in schools).

At the same time as they announced iBooks 2 and iBooks Author, Apple also introduced a free application for the iPad called iTunes U. iTunes U used to be something that was accessible through the iTunes store and is a ‘virtual classroom’ in a sense. Until now it has offered classes from some of the leading universities. Now, it is also open to K-12 teachers and their students.

iTunes U – the application – now becomes something like a learning management app where teachers can post materials including syllabi, assignments, blog entries, updates, and anything they need to communicate with students AND, iTunes U incorporates both iBooks 2 content and iTunes U content.

This adds significant amount of content that anyone can have access to anywhere – as long as they have an iPad or an iPhone.

Challenges

Apple has some hurdles to overcome in order for this revolution to take hold. At the announcement Apple’s Phil Schiller said that 1.5 million iPads were in use in education settings, leveraging more than 20,000 education applications. That’s a great start but in order for the textbook revolution to become complete all students will need to have access to an iPad. I imagine the option to purchase digital text books at $14.99 (I neglected to mention above that the major text book publishers have agreed to sell their digital text books for $14.99!) will drive a significant amount of demand (pull) from students and parents. But someone will still need to purchase these devices.

It will be interesting to see what kind of creativity is applied to financing and/or purchasing in order to enable large numbers of iPads to get into the hands of young people. Some would argue that college age students will adopt and adapt faster than younger students since many of them can make purchasing decisions on their own. Younger students will need their parents, their schools, or some foundation/philanthropy in order to take advantage of this technology.

What’s your take? Is iBooks Author and iBooks 2 evolutionary, revolutionary or ??

It seems that Apple was thinking about the iPhone back in 1983. This image of a 1983 prototype phone comes from the Apple Museum collection being housed at Stanford University.

After the recent book about the secretive nature of Apple it’s a treat to be able to have a small glimpse into some old product development models. It took a long time for Apple to figure out the touch interface and to figure out how to squeeze a phone. a computer and a computer operating system into a small space. But they did and now we have the luxury of using a device like the iPad.

I’m looking forward to what comes next. Some people are predicting it’s going to be a TV. Well just have to wait and see.

The following article has been submitted by Lindsey Wright. Lindsey is a writer and can be reached at lindseywright39 @ gmail dot com. I’ve posted my comments in the comments section below.

Can Technology Replace Teachers? 

What is the role of teachers in today’s technologically driven society? That is really the main question to ponder when discussing whether technology can take the place of educators in the near future. Within the past decade people have started to take online courses and master foreign languages through computer programs such as Rosetta Stone, so imagining robots taking over the education realm isn’t that far-fetched. Even though technology can do many of the same responsibilities as educators, there is one thing that  guarantees that technology can never take their place. Human relationships. A teacher does not just transmit knowledge; he or she guides his or her students. Teachers are mentors who encourage students to develop critical thinking skills and apply them to life. Teachers also pass on social skills and develop a moral compass to their students so transmitting knowledge is just a small part of what a great educator does.

Sugata Mitra is a revolutionary when it comes to educational technology. One of the most recent inventions that Mitra made is virtual classrooms where unsupervised children learn from one another. Despite the exciting work by professor Sugata Mitra however, teachers are still needed because machines have no supervision skills. According to an article from Fast Company, professor Mitra found that “children achieve only half of what their peers in face-to-face instruction can. Children, it seems, still need the encouragement (or coercion) of an adult to keep them from drifting off.” So even though technology may help children learn, it doesn’t help them stay on task during their studies.

Not only is it important to keep children on task, but it is also important that children are able to learn important life skills besides academics. A study from the College of Education at Michigan State University explains, “computers do not teach children to question, to discriminate among sources of information, to weigh perspectives, to think about consequences, to bring contextual meaning to a situation, to be creative, or to make careful judgments.” These are just some of the few crucial skills that teachers are able to pass on to their students. Technology doesn’t have emotions or the ability to think creatively so it would be impossible for students to attain important life skills from inside the classroom.

In Mitra’s study, adults set tasks for children to accomplish. Children need an adult in all educational situations so they can provide input and guidance. Without this input, it would be difficult for a group of children to find a positive direction because they would not have a superior to look up to or to ask for help once a problem arises. Technology will not be able to answer every question that a child may have or will not be a great communicator for the child when they get frustrated or confused during their study. Even though children can learn quickly from one another, they need a responsible person to guide them in their explorations in order to achieve a positive outcome.

Out of any role, one of the most important a teacher can have is that of a mentor. Motivating children to pursue their own goals and dreams is the responsibility of a great teacher. When children are learning in school they shouldn’t be surrounded by machines that can’t talk, cope or relate to them. Teachers are excellent adult role models that children can become inspired by  in addition to their family members. Technology isn’t something that will encourage a student and it definitely won’t be a role model for the child to inspire them.

Many new teachers excited about incorporating computers believe that they should let their students explore on their own with the machines. In fact, Kim Bochicchio claims “computers are one tool that supplements the careful planning and personal interaction from a good teacher.” Bochicchio, who has been teaching high school English for the past six years, further  explains that “technology is not always dependable. The Internet goes down, and only an English teacher can properly grade an essay and conference with a student afterward. Thus, in the past six years I have learned that technology can not replace the teacher and that students want to learn from humans, not machines.”

All in all, with the increasing social isolation of the modern world, educators must keep in mind that it takes a person to teach wisdom, socialization and morals to others. Educators are the responsible adults needed to teach these critical life skills inside a classroom as well as the basic academics. It is apparent that machines cannot take the place of people and hence, technology will never replace teachers.

How young can we go?

Recently I’ve been noodling on the fact that things are changing so fast and the fact that younger and younger children are becoming familiar with, and using, iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches on a regular basis.

I took the photograph above on the train commuting from the airport in San Francisco recently. I didn’t ask mom how old her son is but I imaged he was about 2.5 to 3.5 years old.

How young can we go?

I took this second photograph in the airport in Los Angeles. I would imagine this child is younger than the one in the first picture.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that technology is impacting every aspect of our lives – and it probably shouldn’t come as any surprise that younger and younger people will have technology as an integral part of their lives before reaching public school age.

What might that mean to the school environment? Will schools be able to change fast enough to make instruction and learning on par with the experiences young people have outside of school? And what happens if schools don’t change and don’t keep up?

Earlier today I read an article about a survey commissioned by a company that just released an iPad security application for schools. Their report found that 1 in 20 primary school (elementary school) children in the UK own an iPad. 2000 parents of children aged 10 and under were surveyed.

One in ten parents in the UK feels it’s appropriate for children as young as four years old to own a mobile phone, while one in ten kids under the age of ten already owns an iPhone, according to a survey by Westcoastcloud.

The survey also revealed that 1 in 10 elementary age children already have a social networking account.

These facts raise plenty of questions but the ones that I’m interested in exploring here are related to the impacts on the learning environment.

My personal feeling is to run with this trend and momentum and find ways to harness that energy by engaging young people in using their interests and enthusiasm for technology to propel further inquiry and learning.

On one end of that spectrum is simply personal interests. On the other end of that spectrum could be young people as mentors to other young people and young people developing the applications that are used in the learning environment – their learning environment.

But many school environments and school cultures won’t think this way. Many school cultures will want, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, to control and possibly limit the use of technology in their classrooms.

What’s your take on the changes that trends like these foretell?

Source: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/50985.php?s=h