As a follow up to my recent article on the rumors that Apple was making a “big” education-related announcement in NYC on 1/19/12 (today), here’s some more information from the Washington Post on what they announced. In summary:

1. YES, Apply WILL revolutionize the textbook industry
2. There’s a new app that enables just about anyone to create a digital, interactive textbook
3. There’s another new app as part of iTunesU that will enable just about anyone to create an online course via an app

These are important milestones in the democratization of the textbook industry that will pave the way for independent publishers and amateurs to create some really compelling and specialized texts, and have a channel to distribute them that is similar to an ebook and app.

To support this new initiative, some major textbook publishers have already started making content available as an example, with many more texts planned – especially high volume texts that are used by millions of K-12 students around the country.

These textbooks aren’t just static texts. Rather, they include several interactive features including the ability to take notes, quizzes, make flash cards, and so much more. These textbooks leverage the uniqueness of apps and the digital space.

The courses are another great democratization of content delivery. You can package lectures, videos, books, and many other assets, including quizzes and syllabi into a course to be downloaded from iTunesU. Any time there are updates, you can push those just like in a regular app.

All-in-all, this is a wild new frontier for the education space that is surely going to present some challenges (quality) and some opportunities (new materials at a lower cost).

I can’t wait to try out some of these new courses and textbooks for myself!

In higher education, we all know that the cost of text books is significant. These days at American Public University, we estimate that on average, course materials will run between $125 and $175 per course. With a typical bachelor’s degree requiring 120 credits, that’s about 40 courses or about $5,000 to $7,000! The University realized early on that this can be quite a burden, so the school provides a Book Grant to degree-seeking undergrads which picks up most course material costs. Other students, including those in graduate programs can take advantage of purchasing books from discounters such as Chegg.com and Amazon.com, and can also purchases used books and sell their books back to various vendors when they complete courses.

However, there is innovation in the textbook industry, and it is coming mostly from outside the publishers.

There is a rumor that Apple will be hosting an event related to the publishing industry (possible textbooks) in New York in January 2012. Could it center around electronic editions of textbooks? Could it be new software for the iPad that makes etextbooks more like printed books? Could it be a sub-$100 text book ereader? Could it be related to iTunesU and making more texts available for purchase?

There’s certainly a lot of speculation, and you can read more about it here.

[Visit American Public University's iTunesU Site]

Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, with the heavy market adoption of ereaders and tablets, the migration of textbooks from the print to electronic will be sooner than we think. The impact will most certainly be greater than we imagined on the economy, industry, how we use and interact with texts and how we use tablets for our studies.

Tablet showing an online newspaper

Sure, gadgets are great. We all want the latest and greatest phone… the one that can take a picture, help us find our way out of a straw maze, help us avoid the restaurant where everyone got food poisoning, and so on… But sometimes gadgets come out and we’re not sure how they will change the way we do things – from every day tasks to complex functions.  Lately, we’ve been experiencing a gadget-first, application-second mentality. Take the iPhone and iPad for instance… those devices came out with limited applications.  It wasn’t long before the market learned how to leverage their novel features such as the gyroscope and GPS.  Eventually, the market was flooded with a bevy of apps that ranged from the absurd to the magnificent.

[Top 10 iPhone Apps and iPad Apps for Students]

But many of these devices don’t get to a critical mass until they acquire a business following (think about the BlackBerry and office e-mail).  The same might be true for achieving critical mass within the education space.  If a number of schools proven the iPad is worthy of classroom integration, then I would expect many more schools to follow suit – and quickly.  Adopting the iPad might be a way for universities to demonstrate their cultural savvy and educational innovation through early adoption.  Early adopters grab the headlines and get all the good press.

So it should be no surprise then, that there are a number of schools testing out the iPad in the classroom.

Last year, a number of schools tested ereaders with little success. Common issues such as the inability to easily take notes and highlight text proved to derail many of the trials.  But, as this technology advances, and new applications address these challenges, more schools are looking to take advantage of these devices.  U.S. News recently reported that a number of business schools are looking to the iPad as a classroom tool – not for the convenience of the device alone – but for some of the new apps that are accompanying it.  You can read the article here.

[Get your MBA online and save enough money for your own iPad]

While there was a positive response at many of these schools, there are still challenges. Two such challenges include the issue of the iPad being a distraction (are you really taking notes, or are you surfing Facebook); and the issue of typing on a small touchscreen device (versus a full size keyboard or a paper/pen).

I believe that as long as students have multiple options in the classroom, we’ll have the best level of success.  Learning styles vary greatly, so forcing a particular pedagogical method that focuses on a single technology is almost doomed from the start.  After all, technology can come with a heavy price tag. At what point does an iPad at $600 and it’s $60 a month network access fee justify retiring the $2 Bic and a spiral notebook combo?

Up next: Learn how one online student has already found a great use for his iPad

Here’s an awesome list of iPhone and iPad apps to help you with your studies! Have you used any of them? Which is your favorite?

Do you recommend any other apps? Please comment and discuss!

Periodic | By JohnsonTech, LLC
$0.99

Periodic is an ad-free and complete reference to the Periodic Table of Elements. It includes useful information such as an element’s atomic weight, electron configuration, melting point, boiling point, atomic radius, ionic radius, and discovery year.

National Geographic World Atlas | By National Geographic Society
$1.99

Easy-to-use, feature packed, and containing the world’s best maps, the National Geographic World Atlas enables you to browse, search, and zoom detailed maps of the globe.

iStudiez Pro | By Andriy Kachalo & Michael Balashoff
$2.99

Unique built-in planner lets you input and easy manage all types of schedules including classic, alternating (A & B weeks), rotating and block schedule.

Not only you can enter most common course details, but also add instructors with all related information such as office hours, affiliation, phone number and email address. As well you are welcome to add holiday periods and even cancel separate classes in case of outstanding events.

In addition, you are supplied with an expanded set of icons designed especially for iStudiez Pro to mark your class types and extracurricular activities. Color labels are available for your convenience to mark each particular course.

Evernote | By Evernote
Free

Evernote turns the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop.

Cram | By SimpleLeap
$3.99

Studying for an exam is now easy, simple, and fun with Cram. Study with flashcards on your iPhone or iPod Touch and use multiple-choice for practice of the material. When your test is over, Cram grades and records your test performance so you can track your progress.

Convert – the unit calculator | By tap tap tap
$1.99

A fantastic, easy-to-use, and inexpensive conversion tool!

CliffsNotes® | By Modality Inc.
$1.99

Ace your class with the help of CliffsNotes® for Apple handheld devices. The brand you trust for fast, effective, and comprehensive literature review has been reinvented for the small screen to give you anywhere, anytime access to character, theme and plot summaries and analysis; interactive quiz features; and audio CramCasts covering the great works of literature.

Margins | By Architechies
$3.99

Margins keeps your notes organized by book and page number. Each note can contain a quote and a comment, so you know exactly what caught your attention and precisely what you thought about it. You can even search for keywords in your notes. Try doing that with paper!

Margins keeps bibliographic information right beside your notes, and if your book has an ISBN it can even look it all up for you. And since it’s all stored on your iPhone or iPod touch—a device you probably keep with you all the time—you’ll never leave your notes on your desk or in the library.

Bento | By FileMaker, Inc.
$4.99

Manage contacts and club members, coordinate projects and parties – even track vet bills and vehicle maintenance in one, easy-to-use application. Bento® for iPhone is the portable version of the popular personal database from FileMaker® that’s as easy to use as your iPhone or iPad!

YouNote Lite | By Sophiacom
Free

YouNote allows you to take quick notes on all sorts of information. This information is accessible at all times.

With YouNote, you can take different types of notes like AudioNote, PictNote, DrawNote, TextNot, WebNote and MultiNote.

Screenshot of iPad and Flipboard App, Credit: iTunes/Apple/Flipboard

For iPad lovers out there, here’s a great new tool to share your interests with those that follow you (and presumably the world).  It’s called “Flipboard“.

It’s a downloadable app for the iPad.  Here’s the excerpt from their iTunes store page:

Flipboard is the world’s first social magazine. Your Flipboard is a fast, beautiful way to flip through news, photos and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook and Twitter. And it’s an incredible place to discover fresh content from around the Twittersphere.

Flipboard brings the timeless layout of print media to social media. No more scrolling through long lists of posts and links. No more jumping back and forth between websites. Your Flipboard is everything you care about in one place. It’s your magazine. It’s your Flipboard.

Essentially, Flipboard takes all the links you are sharing and makes them far more visually appealing, and then assembles them as a ‘digital’ magazine, making it much more interactive (and fun) to browse through all the news, links, photos, articles and other digital ‘stuff’ you (or someone you follow) shares.

Thanks to Charles Shorter for his contribution!

Do you use any particular technologies or applications to facilitate your online learning? We would love to hear from you!

You do? We would love to talk to you!

We are looking for dedicated students who use Apple’s new iPad for their online studies.  We’d like to interview you for a short and sweet podcast and feature you on Online Learning Tips!

Do you love it? Hate it? Is it missing something? What makes it the best option for you?  If you would like to be considered for this feature post, please leave a comment with your name and email address and we will contact you to schedule a brief phone interview!

Caught this article at Silicon Valley Insider about how a California startup is working to offer text books for the iPad.

Apple iPad

This could really revolutionize online learning.  While many schools, including American Public University System already utilize ebooks, they are in proprietary formats for simply PDFs.  This can make portability, especially for those folks deployed in the field, a challenge.  An ebook for the iPad, or other e-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle or Sony, could extend portability further.  Personally, I’m a traditionalist and still enjoy my big yellow highlighter for note taking… so we’ll have to see if those of us used to paper-based note-taking can get used to an electronic format.