Last month, Apple introduced iBooks Author and expanded iTunes U. It was a big presentation and a big commitment to the textbook market.

The problem is, of course, whether the desire to embrace digital textbooks can live up to the costs and grim realities. Granted, Apple's probably going to start pushing the iPad to schools much more enthusiastically now that it's ceased educational sales of the MacBook, but putting an iPad in every student's backpack is still going to be a hard sell for districts that have to hold bake sales just to buy normal textbooks.

Just like everything else in the education sector, we're thinking the better-off schools in Silicon Valley and Connecticut will get iPads for Everyone[TM] first, and inner-city schools in Cleveland will have them by, maybe, 2032.

Plus, as far as the federal government goes, we estimate their five-year initiative might take at least 35 years.

So what might Apple do to speed up iPad and ebook adoption? What about that hypothetical 7" iPad? Could Apple (or better yet, would Apple) introduce such a critter this spring? Would a bargain priced "ePad" help spread tablets to the classroom, or will a discounted iPad 2 work better as a lower-cost distribution system?

You tell us. Place your vote in this poll and then join in the comments with all your predictions.

View Poll

You're the Pundit: Does a 7" iPad make sense for the education market? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You're the Pundit: Does a 7" iPad make sense for the education market? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although they haven't exactly explained how school systems or parents are going to pay for iPads or other tablets for every student, the US government is pushing a new initiative to move from standard printed textbooks to digital textbooks within the next five years. While it's good to see that a focus on digital textbooks is finally at hand, it's going to take more than a press release, five years and a "playbook" to make the transition happen.

According to an AP news release, "Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students' hands within five years."

In an interview, Duncan asked, "Do we want kids walking around with 50-pound backpacks and every book in those backpacks costing 50, 60, 70 dollars and many of them being out of date? Or, do we want students walking around with a mobile device that has much more content than was even imaginable a couple years ago and can be constantly updated? I think it's a very simple choice."

To school systems that are battling drastically decreased budgets and trying to replace or repair crumbling infrastructure, it might not be such a "simple choice." Likewise, there doesn't appear to have been much (if any) thought on how parents or schools systems are going to replace equipment that is broken or lost by students, or how to pay for digital devices to be refreshed every three to five years.

Wednesday's announcement comes just two weeks after Apple's education event and the launch of iBooks textbooks. The company is perfectly placed, both in terms of the iPad hardware platform and iBooks Author creation tool, to benefit from a move to interactive and easily updated electronic textbooks.

The government released a 67-page "playbook" promoting the use of digital textbooks and offering guidance to school systems who want to make the move. At the current time, about US$8 billion is spent each year on traditional textbooks for K-12 school kids. With an Apple educational discount, that could pay for more than 17 million iPads each year. If Apple, as rumored, brings down the price of entry into the iPad market by selling the iPad 2 alongside a future model, more devices could make it into the hands of students across the nation.

On the other hand, switching to digital textbooks means more than just acquiring hardware and buying textbook apps. In many cases, the curriculum provided by a school district and even the methods used by instructors to teach students must change as well. The educational five-year plan is a noble goal; it's just not very realistic.

US government wants schools to embrace digital textbooks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

US government wants schools to embrace digital textbooks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the school district is acquiring iPads as they are less expensive, easier to use, and more portable than the usual computers purchased for educational use. Bill Smojver, the director of technical services for the Madison School District, referred to Apple's recent educational announcements about iBooks Author, iBooks 2, and digital textbooks as a "significant development."

Deputy superintendent of schools Sue Abplanalp said that Madison administrators found that students using tablets were more engaged in the classroom, as evidenced by a demonstration they witnessed in the Chicago Public Schools.

The school district will get the iPads through a traditional Apple educational discount for about $479 each, with the final tab being paid for with part of a nearly US$80 million settlement between Microsoft and the state of Wisconsin. That 2009 settlement was the end result of a lawsuit that alleged that Microsoft cheated consumers by overpricing its software for years.

[via AppleInsider]

iPads for Madison, WI schools purchased with Microsoft lawsuit settlement funds originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPads for Madison, WI schools purchased with Microsoft lawsuit settlement funds originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another piece of the Apple education puzzle has fallen into place. The company has published a set of special iTunes U support web pages to help with questions from users of the new iTunes U app, from teachers who are using the iTunes U Course Manager, and from administrators who use the iTunes U Public Site Manager.

The iTunes U app support pages provide information on how to use the new app or access iTunes U through iTunes on Mac or PC.

According to Apple, "iTunes U Course Manager is a web-based tool that allows instructors to create and distribute courses on iTunes U. Instructors at K12 school districts as well as colleges and universities whose institutions have an iTunes U site can get access to iTunes U Course Manager through their iTunes U Public Site Manager administrator." As you'd expect, the support pages for iTunes U Course Manager are quite a bit more detailed than those for the iTunes U app, and cover everything from creating an instructor profile to editing a course.

Finally, the pages for iTunes U Public Site Manager (the tool that iTunes U site administrators use to manage their public content within the iTunes Store) cover the gamut from system requirements to marketing a public site and creating a properly-formatted feed.

The new support pages are a good way for students, educators, and administrators seeking information about iTunes U to start getting answers from the source.

Apple publishes iTunes U support pages originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple publishes iTunes U support pages originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We'll be chatting specifically about how Apple's latest foray into education will impact both teachers and students, and we have a couple of educators scheduled to appear. If you are an educator or can talk one into joining us this evening, please do! Same goes for those who are attending MacWorld|iWorld, we want to know what you are looking forward to and any tips you have for others.

As always, Kelly hosting the show means there will be aftershow. Which could mean anything really, the aftershow has a tendency to wander.

Since it's really all about you, the community, join me won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice), basic instructions are here. (If you prefer Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store.) Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Education/Macworld edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Education/Macworld edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since 2006, iTunes U has been a way to electronically distribute class lectures. Both Berkeley and Stanford have released courses on iTunes U, as have many other schools. Now, the iTunes U app offers lectures from a wide variety of high-powered schools, plus more.

Apple demonstrated a course overview, required credits, a syllabus, and office hours this morning. We also saw a place for posts from teachers so there's an easy way to update the class, and a spot where students can take notes. Tapping on an assignment automagically takes a student straight to the specific materials in iBooks, and there's even a task list for students to cross off items as they are completed.

iTunes U is a free application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, available now.

iTunes U graduates into separate iOS app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iTunes U graduates into separate iOS app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wall Street Journal and Ars Technica have weighed in with information about Apple's upcoming education event. Both outlets cite the usual "people familiar with the matter" for their information, and their sources have generally given accurate info in the past. With those caveats out of the way, it's worth looking at what the WSJ and Ars have to say about Thursday's event.

The Wall Street Journal confirms most of the past week's speculation and says Apple's education event will indeed focus on the launch of a new platform for digital textbooks. According to its sources, Apple has been working with textbook publishers on this new platform for quite some time; McGraw-Hill has been collaborating with Apple since at least June of 2011. Cengage Learning, a major player in textbooks for higher education, has worked with Apple in the past and will also attend the event.

Reportedly the event will focus on a new type of digital textbook providing a greater degree of interactivity than has been offered in the past. The iPad is of course the perfect medium for consumption of such content, and the iTunes Store is a ready-made outlet for delivering that content. Apple has already provided all the tools for digital textbooks to get into the hands of teachers and students, with one exception: an easy way to create that digital content in the first place.

Tools for creating ebooks from scratch or converting standard books into digital versions have traditionally been confusing to use, delivered inconsistent results, and haven't played well with anything more than basic multimedia integration. Speaking from my personal experience in trying to create a simple text-only ebook using iWork, I've longed for a simpler and more user-friendly tool; I can only imagine that textbook publishers have been clamoring for such a piece of software even more stridently.

According to Ars Technica, Apple is set to deliver that final piece of the puzzle in crafting digital textbooks, which the site characterizes as sort of a "GarageBand for ebooks." Apple is expected to announce support for the EPUB 3 standard -- it currently supports EPUB 2 with some HTML5-based extensions to allow grafting of basic multimedia content onto ebooks. While this may render such ebooks incompatible with other ebook platforms (Kindle, most notably) it should also make it much easier for textbook makers to deliver interactive content in their ebooks.

Both Ars's sources and people within the digital publishing industry agree that Apple is set to introduce a tool designed to make the process of creating digital content for ebooks as easy as GarageBand makes it to throw together a song on your Mac. While this lowering of the barrier for publishing could have some unintended consequences (I shudder to think that these kinds of tools might mean my ex-girlfriend's Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan fiction might reach a wider audience), the implications for bigger publishers like the major players in the textbook market are disruptive -- and lucrative.

If The Wall Street Journal and Ars have it right, Thursday's event looks like a fairly big deal despite the lack of any new hardware. For the past 25 years (at least) we've been promised that technology would eventually revolutionize the classroom entirely, but it's only recently that the tools and means of delivery have existed to supplement or supplant the traditional dead-tree textbook. It sounds like that might be coming to pass at last.

What to expect from Apple's education event: Digital textbooks, 'GarageBand for ebooks' originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What to expect from Apple's education event: Digital textbooks, 'GarageBand for ebooks' originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Contest

Starting today, Ask Different is running a contest. The rules are simple: ask a question related to iOS, and be sure to tag it "iOS" (plus whatever other relevant tags apply). There will be two winners: the question which gets the most views and the question with the highest number of votes will win a 16GB iPod nano (6th Generation) or Apple accessories of comparable value (your choice).

The Rules

• The contest is open to both new and current Stack Exchange and Ask Different users.
• Everyone is eligible to participate regardless of geographic location. If you live in an area of the world where it is too difficult for Stack Exchange to ship you your prize, they'll figure something else out on a case by case basis.
• The only metrics in use to determine winners are the number of page views and votes your questions get. So ask as many good questions as you can, and share them using whatever means you see fit. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google Plus, whatever!
• There will be separate (and equal!) prizes for The Unofficial Apple Weblog readers who are participating in this contest. Make sure include in your Stack Exchange profile that you're a TUAW reader. (You need to include the word "TUAW" so the contest search can find you.)

The Dates

The contest begins today (Monday, January 16th) at 10 am EST and goes until Friday, January 27th at 11:59 pm (EST). Only questions that are asked within that time period will count towards the contest.

New to Stack Exchange / Ask Different?

If you don't already have one, go to http://apple.stackexchange.com/users/login and create an account. Be sure to mention TUAW in your profile (or add it if you already have an account).

If you are not familiar with Stack Exchange, I would highly recommend checking out the Ask Different FAQ which has a list of "best practices" including etiquette and protocol for asking and answering questions. It also explains some aspects of the site such as voting and reputation.

Win/win and maybe win again

Of course you can continue to send us questions for our Ask TUAW and Aunt TUAW series, but we get far more questions than we can answer. I also know that many of our readers have a wealth of information to share with others. Getting more people to know and use Ask Different is a win/win for the Apple community. The chance to win a prize for asking a great question is just icing on the cake.

Disclaimer: The Ask Different iPod contest is managed entirely by Stack Exchange. The prizes awarded and the contest process are completely under the control of Stack Exchange, and decisions made by Stack Exchange are final. TUAW and AOL have no administrative or legal role in this contest and cannot be held responsible for any questions of eligibility or other matters.

Ask Different contest starts today with bonus for TUAW readers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ask Different contest starts today with bonus for TUAW readers originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, TUAW reported on a rumored Apple media event to be held in New York City later this month. Shortly after that post blessed the Interwebs, TUAW followed up with further detail from sister site TechCrunch. The word from the TechCrunchers was that the January event will focus on iBooks and publishing. Now Fox & Friends anchor Clayton Morris is quoting "sources involved" and saying that the event will focus on iTunes University, education, and an electronic textbook initiative.

Morris provided the following bullet points on his blog:

• This event will focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
• I learned of the event back in September when it was originally scheduled for late Fall in New York but it was eventually postponed.
• The event will be in New York rather than in the Silicon Valley because New York is more centrally located for textbook and publishing.
• This initiative has been in the making for years.
• The announcement will be small in size but large in scope: a big announcement in a demure space.
• I expect at least two large project announcements as they relate to Apple in education.
• Steve Jobs was intinimately involved with this project before his passing. He gave a hat tip to the textbook side of this project in the Isaacson biography.
• This will not be a hardware-related announcement.

TUAW will be keeping an eye on the news about this event and we'll make sure you hear about as soon as we do.

Apple event this month to focus on iTunes U and textbook initiative originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple event this month to focus on iTunes U and textbook initiative originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wired has posted a profile of one Afshad Mistri, an Apple employee whose goal is quite focused. As the medical market manager, he's tasked with connecting medical professionals and Apple's technology. Mistri couldn't chat with Wired for the article itself (Apple's less-than-press-friendly reputation is upheld), but according to medical personnel he's working with, Apple is pushing hard on the healthcare industry by setting up iPads and other brand new tech in medical workplaces.

That's interesting, as Apple traditionally hasn't aggressively pursued the enterprise, leaving most offices to companies like Microsoft and RIM. But the medical market is different. In addition to Mistri's behind-the-scenes work and stories about organizations using the iPad, Apple has featured medical apps during several public presentations.

It's not a big surprise, since the medical industry is tech-friendly (which is right where Apple wants to be) and has deep pockets to fund upgrades. But it is interesting that Apple has chosen to actively pursue medicine. We can probably expect to see more universities and hospitals embracing the iPad and Apple's devices moving forward.

[via gigaom]

How the iPad is succeeding in healthcare originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How the iPad is succeeding in healthcare originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First, it was a few people who wanted to get work email on their personal iPhones so they could keep up with the office even if they weren't there. Then it was a couple of high level people who decided they'd get iPhones as their official company phone. Now you have stacks of them all over the place and people are starting to ask questions about managing this many devices and security policies and...urgh! What ARE you going to do about all of that?

Instead of the heart attack you're likely considering at the moment, let me make a different suggestion: Check out the new Mobile Device Management Primer from MacTech! First and foremost, this is a FREE resource. Really. Go get it. It's THAT simple. It's written by Russell Poucher, an Apple Certified Trainer and session chair for the upcoming MacTech MDM event.

If the primer isn't enough, or it's just enough to show you all the things that you didn't even realize you should be worried about, MacTech has announced an event called MacTech InDepth: Mobile Device Management. This will take place in San Francisco on December 7th. If you were a regular person, you'd have to pay full price, but you're not! You, dear reader, get to use the special TUAW deal and get $200 off an entire day of curated knowledge. Even more important than the sessions, you get to hang out with a bunch of other folks who also showed up to learn more about MDM, giving you the chance to attend my favorite part of any conference, the "hallway track." This part is the part no webinar or conference call can duplicate, the part where you get to chat with other people randomly over lunch or between sessions. I have attended conferences and learned at least as much from the hallway track as I have from the tracks themselves!

Whether you get to go to San Francisco or not, you should definitely check out the primer above and spend a little time with it, especially if you are just starting to look at iPhones in your IT environment. It's free! So go get it, and see if you have any free time in early December. I hear San Francisco is almost as lovely then as it is in January...

MacTech offers free Mobile Device Management Primer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MacTech offers free Mobile Device Management Primer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For many first-grade students, the best way to let your teacher know what you want is to raise your hand or shout out your request. But for some special needs students, it's difficult to speak or put thoughts into words. Marin County, California is now using iPads to help these students communicate with their instructors.

Through grants from a fundraising organization called Dedication to Special Education, all 19 Marin County school districts have been receiving technology to help out special needs students. What's changing the face of technology for these students is the iPad. As noted by Sarah King, the co-chairwoman of Dedication to Special Education, "We've gone from a DynaVox, which costs about US$8,000, to a $500 iPad that does essentially the same thing. And the iPad is a lot easier for students to manipulate."

The organization plans to use about $85,000 of their grant money to purchase as many as 80 iPads this year, but that doesn't meet the demand of special education teachers who have requested about $176,000 in technology -- including 122 iPads.

King's 19-year-old son is autistic, and uses an iPad application called Conversation Builder to learn how to converse in social situations. Other students helped by the organization are using apps Proloquo2Go and Tap to Talk, both of which use pictures to let users express what they want to say.

King notes that "In the past, we've bought dozens of computers, interactive whiteboards, projectors and software. But the iPad is taking over the universe." For the special needs students who are benefiting from the iPads and applications, Dedication to Special Education and the Apple devices are giving them a voice.

iPad gives voice to Marin County, CA special needs students originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPad gives voice to Marin County, CA special needs students originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The African nation of Zimbabwe has suffered greatly over the past due to the policies of president Robert Mugabe, but there's a glimmer of hope for the future of the country. Apple and the government of Zimbabwe have entered into a joint venture to distribute solar-powered iPads to rural schools in the country.

The announcement was made by Zimbabwean minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart, who met with Apple employees in Paris yesterday. In his Facebook post, he noted that he had a "Great meeting with Apple today in Paris -- unveiled a fascinating new 'School Box' which will take iPads to the most remote rural schools - using solar power and micro projectors we will be able to bring computerized teaching aids to the poorest schools."

Coltart mentioned that the first pilot programs could start early in 2012. Coltart said "I am very excited that Zimbabwe is collaborating with Apple int his groundbreaking use of technology to advance educations in the most remote schools. If we can get it to work in Zimbabwe I am sure it will spread to poor schools throughout Africa - and beyond."

As noted in Newsday Zimbabwe, most rural schools in the country lack even basic infrastructure. The Mugabe government had previously donated "several computers" to schools as part of a rural computerization project, but they have either been stolen or were never used due to the lack of electricity.

Computerworld's Jonny Evans reported on the story today with some speculation the School Box (containing the iPads and solar charger) might act as a femtocell device, sharing a 3G broadband connection among students. Evans quotes analyst firm Gartner as stating that "Where the One Laptop Per Child [OLPC] and mini-notebook fell short in delivering true computer-aided curriculum, the media tablet can deliver if schools build them into a larger ecosystem emerging around digital textbooks."

Between the idea of using solar power to reduce or eliminate electricity costs, replacing costly printed textbooks with electronic textbooks, and using the very popular iPad devices, perhaps Apple is hitting the education market in developing countries with the right product at the right time.

Zimbabwe government, Apple in joint education venture originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Zimbabwe government, Apple in joint education venture originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've heard of secondary schools and universities swapping out books for iPads before, but now thanks to a pilot program in four middle schools in Las Vegas, we're beginning to see just how helpful iPads can be in an educational setting.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1,150 children at the four schools were given iPads preloaded with Fuse Algebra textbooks and software instead of regular math books, pencils, and paper. Now while working on their math assignments, the children can use the iPads to watch tutorials and get instant feedback on an equation they completed. If they got the math problem wrong, they can put on headphones and watch a tutorial on the spot teaching them how to solve it correctly.

While official results of the pilot program won't be available for some time, anecdotal evidence on its effectiveness is very good. One student said that she was traditionally a C or D student in math, but since using the iPad in the classroom, her average math scores have increased to Bs or As. The teachers are jut as enthusiastic about using the iPads in the classroom. Principal Robert Mars said, "Any tech we use - a laptop, smart board, iPod Touch, handheld transponder - anything that's tech-related, kids gravitate toward that. Every child is engaged constantly by having them in their hands."

School district eyes iPads to improve students' math scores originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

School district eyes iPads to improve students' math scores originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The first time I mentioned Abilene Christian University, it was because it was handing out iPhones to students. The next time was a year later when I followed up with an interview about the school's methods and research findings. Its approach to incorporating technology into education was both unobtrusive and highly effective, and it almost made me want to go back to school again. This year, as Mike Rose mentioned a little while ago, the studies go on and the results continue to impress.

Now that the iPad is available, students are being equipped with a rich set of tools that can be used for learning; they can also be used to spend time on social networks, blogging, chatting with friends... all with ACU's blessing. There are no mandates that either teachers or students have to use the iPads. The fact that the iPad is as much a social tool as anything else is something that ACU has embraced, modifying many of its curriculums to work more effectively with the new technology.

Among the students, the approval rating for the program is in the upper 90%, with the highest numbers coming from the youngest classes (100% for the class of 2015). Test scores have been shown to improve markedly (+25%) when notes are taken and texts annotated using the iPad. The numbers are all great, but that's not what really catches my attention about this story.

What's most interesting to me is how the professors at ACU have voluntarily adapted their teaching styles to work with new technologies. The administration has provided all of the tools for a highly social, highly connected environment, and teachers and students alike have taken impressive advantage of the opportunities. The curriculum, as well, has been shifting to include rich media creation as part of everyday learning.

Obviously, the iPad isn't making the difference alone. It's a conduit, a tool for taking advantage of the Internet, a network of friends and a new way of looking at education. Well, not new, really. Thoreau's classroom is in full effect here. In many classes students are interactively building the syllabus, creating the questions and finding the answers. The professors are taking on a new role as "coaches," focusing more on helping students learn to solve problems and answer questions than on rote learning and testing. Some professors have stopped traditional lecturing entirely, and have seen improved comprehension and test results across the board.

In one class at ACU, students spend their class-time in the surrounding communities, armed with iPads, doing service work and solving real-world problems. They are asked to blog their experiences as they happen. Images, thoughts, discoveries and more are all captured in blog form, and the blog ultimately becomes the test.

As an Apple fan, I'm thrilled that the iPad--and the iPhone before it--were chosen to be the center of this program. The technology (including a media creation studio donated by AT&T) shines brightly in this scenario. Without the active support of students, their teachers and the administration, though, the technology would just be a hindrance while the status quo was maintained. It's inspiring to see education taking what is, in my opinion, a very positive leap forward at ACU.

Students and iPads: ACU study shows positive results originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Students and iPads: ACU study shows positive results originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Apple confirmed today that, with limited exception, they will cease to ship boxed software to campus resellers. This includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard , iLife, iWork, Apple Remote Desktop, and Aperture, among others...The only products that will remain as boxed software offerings are Logic Express and Logic Studio.

The email's author goes on to encourage interested parties to sort through the remaining stock of boxed software for anything they might need.

Apple opened the Mac App Store in January of this year, which saw the beginning of the end for boxed software for consumers on the Mac. Now that Apple set to sever the supply of boxed software for educational institutions, it moves even closer to all-digital distribution.

The exceptions, as noted in the email, are Logic Express and Logic Studio. However, that is presumably only because those two software apps aren't available on the Mac App store yet. When they are, boxed software from Apple will see its final day.

Apple tells education customers: no more boxed software originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple tells education customers: no more boxed software originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From special-needs classrooms to textbook publishers to free lesson movements, anxious IT administrators to Irish principals to K-12 thought leaders: education loves the iPad. Apple has even taken up the learning banner in an iPad TV ad. For all the enthusiasm (and budget resources) focused on the "magical and revolutionary" tablet, however, there's not much rigorous research yet on how, or if, the iPad is helping students learn more effectively.

One group that's trying to quantify these benefits is the ACU Connected mobile learning program at Abilene Christian University, which has been working for more than three years to identify the specific advantages of student mobility with a new generation of devices. This week, ACU will announce some of its study results for the iPad while welcoming seven new research fellows studying the impact of digital mobility on education.

The research results, previewed exclusively for TUAW, are uniformly positive. In one study, students who annotated text on their iPads scored 25% higher on questions regarding information transfer than their paper-based peers. In a separate project covering iPad usage patterns, two researchers studying ACU's first all-digital class discovered that the iPad promotes "learning moments" and helps students make more efficient use of their time. Grad students working in an online program reported a 95% satisfaction rate for online iPad-based coursework. As far as the ACU studies are concerned, the iPad in education is a success story.

Of course, no two learners are exactly alike, and the iPad isn't ideal for every education challenge; nevertheless, the ACU teams have found a lot of upside so far. We'll be checking in with them this week for a full interview about the research programs and the opportunities for educational transformation around mobile computing.

iPad-enabled students get performance boost, says ACU study originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPad-enabled students get performance boost, says ACU study originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Launched in 2007, iTunes U is an Apple service that lets teachers distribute classroom content to students easily over the Internet. It's available at over 1,000 universities in 123 countries.

In the four years since launch, the program can boast of 600 million downloads, with more than 300 million occurring in the last year. Unlike many online services that are US-centric, iTunes U is decidedly international with 60% of users residing outside the US.

iTunes U tops 600 million downloads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iTunes U tops 600 million downloads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For the past couple of weeks (since shortly before the Lion introduction, I believe) Apple's professional training and certification site at training.apple.com has been under renovation. Today it's back with a new Lion-esque look and previews of new training courses and certifications for Apple-centric IT professionals.

The three new tracks/certs are for Lion (no surprise), Final Cut Pro X and Mac Integration Basics 10.7. None of the certification exams for those tracks are ready yet, nor are most of the course materials -- only the MIB class has full documentation available right now. Lion certification testing is due to start up in the fall, and FCP X certifications are "coming soon."

The Snow Leopard 10.6 certification courses/testing suite is still available, and according to Apple's internal sales web site it will remain on offer until January 2012. Snow Leopard certification will not expire when the Lion exams come online, so if you get certified now you're still considered up to date well into 2012.

Thanks, Wheat!

Apple's training site back online, Lion certifications due this fall originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's training site back online, Lion certifications due this fall originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man, talk about lucky in Kentucky. Students and staff in the Owensboro, Kentucky district will all be issued Apple's newest ultraportable MacBook Air thanks to US$5 million in stimulus funding, Electronista reports. The MacBook Air's small size and increased durability compared to the plastic and spinning-platter hard disk MacBook were key factors in the school district's decision to go with the aluminum chassis, SSD-based MacBook Air.

Local reporters say students will be banned from "illegal websites" and "gambling over the internet." (As an aside, whoever selected the B-roll for the report seems to have no idea what a MacBook Air is, as the footage instead shows some anonymous netbook). Teachers have already received their MacBook Airs, but students reportedly won't receive them until a month or so into the school year.

I'll admit it, I'm a little jealous of these kids. Back in my day, we had ten Apple IIe units to share among the entire elementary school. No internet, no portable computers, certainly nothing like the iPad... and we were thankful. All kidding aside, it's great to see that Apple's remained committed to education even as its cheaper computers like the eMac and the plastic MacBook have disappeared into the mists of history.

Owensboro, Kentucky students to receive 2200 MacBook Airs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Owensboro, Kentucky students to receive 2200 MacBook Airs originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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