However, even if e-book prices themselves won't break the bank, iPads are still a $500-plus investment per tablet. Textbooks will now become social in a variety of ways.” 'Other benefits include more timely and relevant content, and the ability for students to interact and share this content with ease. iBooks also have the potential to ease some of the financial burden of schools, as ebooks could save on textbook costs. 'With iBooks, learning will be a lot more experiential,' Scarfi told Wired in an e-mail. They make up less than 3 percent of textbook sales, and don't offer much over their paperbound counterparts.Īpple's new and updated products - iTunes U (an app-based hub for virtual classrooma), as well as iBooks 2, the iBookstore and iBooks Author - should help provide solutions for educators looking to provide more engaging experiences than plain, old PDFs, all without the heavy investments required of building apps from scratch. E-textbooks have been a transitional product, Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps wrote in a November 2011 report. Fifth graders who regularly played the game for 20 minutes per day over a five-day period increased their test scores by 15 percent on average (you can check out more about this study on Wired's GeekDad).ĭigital textbooks haven't enjoyed the same success as app-based learning tools thus far, however. In the public school sector, more than 600 school districts have adopted a 1:1 iPad program.Īnother study centered on an iPad game, Motion Math, has shown that the iPad can help with fundamental math skills. Similar pilot courses and iPad programs have cropped up all over the country, primarily in private and boarding schools, and select universities. The study was conducted at a Riverside, California, middle school from Spring 2010 to Spring 2011 using HMH's Fuse: Algebra I app.

In a partnership with Apple, textbook publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt performed a pilot study using an iPad text for Algebra 1 courses, and found that 20 percent more students (78 percent compared to 59 percent) scored 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' in subject comprehension when using tablets rather than paper textbook counterparts.

Apple's education-related announcements yesterday will no doubt bolster the trend, making faculty tools and student textbooks more engaging and accessible.īut today another data point emerged, demonstrating that the iPad can be a valuable asset in education. More and more schools are jumping on the digital bandwagon and adopting iPads for daily use in the classroom.

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