iBooks 2 - what do you think?

[Adam Zeis]

Looks pretty sweet thus far from what I can see. I wish we had this stuff when I was still in school. What do you guys think? Good? Bad? Ugly?

 

[cardfan]

Looks fine. Apple certainly sees revenue potential here and even requires textbooks to be exclusive to ibooks.

My only question is how most high school students will ever see these. States typically make the textbook decisions. This would be very expensive for high schools to implement. The costs are higher. 15 dollars per book per student per year is more than the paper texts that can be reused for years.

Then there's the ipads themselves that will cost em 500-600 per kid with a limited life. Will 16gb ipads even have enough storage?

Then there's support, training issues for teachers (many who can barely turn on a PC), ipad theft, etc.

Apple has quite the challenge. But they do have a nice bank account to work with.

 

[Alli]

The high schools that could benefit most - the title one schools - will never see them.

This will be one more thing that helps deepen the digital divide.

 

[Brickman]

The high schools that could benefit most - the title one schools - will never see them.

Alli, you don't think Title 1 would get this? I figured with State and Federal aid, Title 1 could make this happen for these systems.

<Not that our State has any money>

 

[BradM73]

My opinion is that it boils down to cost versus benefit. A school needs to look into the cost benefit of buying paper books, how much those books cost, and how long they will be in circulation. It may be beneficial for schools to issue a single iPad with the books the students need, compared to the costs of purchasing text books for each class separately, which I imagine could be close to the same price of an iPad plus iBooks.

The one area I see a benefit with using iPads is the possibility of more interactive books being developed with the iPad, with imbedded videos or presentations, instead of just pictures in traditional books. This may serve to capture the interests of students to a higher degree.

Again, just my opinion based on my limited knowledge of the subject.

 

[leharris22]

I really wish they had had digital books when I was in school. I just finished my Master's and it was a pain to buy and carry around all those textbooks. I also had a ton of articles to read and had to print most of them. I ended up getting an e-reader so I could read the articles without printing, but having this solution would have been more convenient and cheaper. I think this a great step forward.

 

[Alli]

Alli, you don't think Title 1 would get this? I figured with State and Federal aid, Title 1 could make this happen for these systems.

<Not that our State has any money>

Our Title 1 funding has been severely cut every year. Right now it's paying for our school nurse and half an assistant principal. We will never see enough money in the Title 1 budget to buy iPads for everyone, or we would already have laptops for everyone.

 

[Alli]

The biggest issue will still be replacement. If a student loses a traditional textbook, it's $60 to replace it. If a student loses his iPad, it's going to be $500 to replace it.

 

[cardfan]

I would say more like 300 an ipad. Refurbs are selling for 419 and after a new ipad this will go down even more. Who knows what things will be like in even 5 more years? But that's still a lot per student and even 15 a textbook per child per year could be more costly than present textbook budgets that say you use the same paper one for years.

Still, and this is coming from my wife who's been a teacher for over 15 years, there will be resistance to it. Many teachers don't want this. It means more work & training. More issues to deal with, different issues. Many teachers can't wait to get out that door when the bell rings.

First, you have to convince schools they have a problem that needs to be solved with this costly solution. Traditional texts aren't why students struggle.

I think it'll happen over time. But not anytime soon. Apple has merely shown what's possible right now. I'm sure a few will bite on it. If i was a district or school, i'd wait and see what happens. But start pushing some of this on teachers in their training. Can computer labs be eliminated if every kid totes a tablet? Lots of questions they'll have to go through.

 

[Brickman]

I bet the Home School market could REALY put this to use! Think what you want to about Home Schooling it is still a growing option for many people. The biggest hurdles for most parents that are Home Schooling are finding the right Resources and keeping kids engaged.

Problem Solved!

 

[cardfan]

I bet the Home School market could REALY put this to use! Think what you want to about Home Schooling it is still a growing option for many people. The biggest hurdles for most parents that are Home Schooling are finding the right Resources and keeping kids engaged.

Problem Solved!

We thought of doing that but i couldn't get past depriving my daughter of interacting with other kids in a learning environment. Still, i view her education as our responsibility. The school is just helping out. We fill in what we feel she's missing or supplement it. These textbooks will be great for this and are yet another tool more cheaply available.

For example, in kindergarten, they're still covering simple concepts like covering the letter L one day. Or counting to 10. She's way past that reading 4th grade level books.

 

[JohnH59]

Our Title 1 funding has been severely cut every year. Right now it's paying for our school nurse and half an assistant principal. We will never see enough money in the Title 1 budget to buy iPads for everyone, or we would already have laptops for everyone.

Alli,

Our Title I coordinator tells us that Title I funding HAS to be used for instruction. We are told Title I funds can't be used for administrative functions. I pay one of my staff that works with staff and students in integrating technology from Title I funds and she has to maintain time and effort sheets daily. The sheets are broken down into 15 minute increments. This came from a lady that audits Title I funding from the govt. level.

 

[Alli]

Alli,

Our Title I coordinator tells us that Title I funding HAS to be used for instruction. We are told Title I funds can't be used for administrative functions. I pay one of my staff that works with staff and students in integrating technology from Title I funds and she has to maintain time and effort sheets daily. The sheets are broken down into 15 minute increments. This came from a lady that audits Title I funding from the govt. level.

Title 1 funding has to be used for student achievement, not instruction. Student achievement leaves a good bit of room for interpretation. Instruction would basically mean, what, teacher salaries?

The people from Federal Programs don't even all follow the same guidelines (typical for federal programs, eh?), so you may not even find two school districts following the same guidelines. They are all, however, nitpicky about what they believe to be necessary. I dislike them thoroughly.

 

[MariuszB]

looks really good, must check it out

 

[12youngjedi]

i have seen it. i think they improved this time