Prentiss Ashford wouldn't call himself a big fan of economics, but the sophomore at Abilene Christian University in Texas says this semester he found himself turning to his econ textbook whenever he had spare moment.
"Just the fact that it's on the iPad and it's all on there, makes me a lot more interested," Prentiss says.
Abilene Christian University paired with digital publisher Inkling and McGraw Hill to test-drive new interactive textbooks in a handful of classes this year, as part of the school's three-year old mobile-learning initiative.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tablets, Not Textbooks
I don't see this as a solution to high textbook costs in K-12 schools, but in colleges and universities, where students would buy their own tablets, this makes a lot of sense:
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Yeah, Larson's new calculus book lists at $199, $149 for the Kindle version.
When someone gets smart, they'll realize they could sell $15 copies of the book to every single student instead of selling a couple dozen to the schools once every 5 years or more.
I think this is the future. But it will come with its own set of problems. Our campus is starting a Bring Your Own Technology move for next year. In theory, teachers aren't supposed to have to monitor the varied IPAD, IPOD, IPhone configurations. In reality I think it may become a distraction. My biggest worry is that because kids insist on having all their stuff right on the table that an IPAD will end up destroyed by water, paint or clay. I'm not sure how much insurance I will have to have to protect me from students who destroy their own stuff. Then there's the issue of those who don't have will steal.....while it's the future, it's not without it's problems.
i dont think the ipad should be used as a substitute in high school. while individual students in high school are responsible, the entire student body as a single unit is not responsible. you'd risk alot of money for the students for something with huge potential to get broken or stolen.
and while the same point of view can be applied for college students, college students assume responsibility for their own items....no one is forced to provide an ipad for them so they assume all responsibility for it which leads me to believe that college students can take better care for their devices.
summing up....i'd be ok with the ipad being used in college instead of books.....but not for high school
In Asia-- Korea, specifically; I don't know about Japan, Taiwan, or China-- K-12 textbooks are cheap, sold in many bookstores, and purchased directly by the students.
It should be that way here. Folks tend to value what they pay for. When I taught in high school, the campus routinely lost thousands of dollars worth of texts every year.
As far as I know the Kindle/Nook can not handle pictures, illustrations or graphs removing the most expensive books Math and Sciences from being available.
The college books we looked at which are available electronically are on a Windows based machine and are basically rented for 1 or 2 semesters then they disappear. The savings was not very much based on the ones our daughter needed last fall semester.
As far as I know the e-readers can not handle pictures, illustrations or graphs removing the most expensive to print books, Math and Sciences, from being available.
The college books we looked at which are available electronically could only be read on a computer not an e-reader. Furthermore they are rented for 1 or 2 semesters then disappear. The savings was not very much based on the texts our daughter needed last fall semester.
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