Apple has had its iTunes U offering for quite awhile, which has provided professors a digital hub to communicate with students, but it was only a matter of time before an iPad and iPhone app was released to compliment the service. While Apple's Eddy Cue said the new iTunes U app was designed to look a lot like iBooks 2, the app is strictly a portal for accessing all types of educational materials, including a class syllabus, full course notes and videos, as well as iBooks notes.
The gallery below should give you a good idea of the layout and the drastic design changes, but you should also be able to try it out for yourself later today. Even if you aren't a full-time student, there's educational content to peruse; Apple has teamed up with some of the world's top universities (Duke, Harvard, etc.) to offer course materials to the non-full-time students of the world (that includes lecture videos, etc.). Additionally, while iTunes U used to just be available for university students and professors, Apple is now making it accessible to K through 12 teachers and students. The free app will be available today.
Check out our liveblog for all the news from the Apple event right here.

There are 110 Comments. Add yours.
putting kids on a non open ecosystem like apple or microsoft is horrible.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:52 AM EST reply Recommend (14) Flag actions
You are right. The textbook industry is the epitome of “open”.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:54 AM EST reply Recommend (27) Flag actions
The book is [open, that is]. The industry, less so.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:59 AM EST reply Recommend (5) Flag actions
THIS JUST IN: Apple wins patents for the structural characteristics for lowercase letter “i” and uppercase letter “U”. Sues everybody.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:01 AM EST reply Recommend (5) Flag actions
You seem to be awfully upset about this :(
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:02 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
I am and you should be too. This is bad news for our education system and our children. Apple is like a drug dealer. Catching kids with their eco system as early as possible.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:08 AM EST reply Recommend (8) Flag actions
So why isn’t Samsung, or Googorola, or HTC or any other Tablet maker out there going out and signing partnerships with Textbook makers then? Oh that’s right, because they just aren’t. Why not? Who knows. You can’t blame Apple, a company whom is a huge proponent of education and how its distributed for doing what they’re doing. I’m not an Apple fanboy by any means, so this is not a fanboy argument. Just seeing it as it is. Not blinded by a ridiculous ecosystem debate.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:17 AM EST reply Recommend (13) Flag actions
There are tons of companies out there trying to make educational tablets. Unfortunately, it’s a lot tougher than it sounds and not many investors and educators are interested in such a shift. The only reason Apple was able to pull it off is because of their closed ecosystem.
This, however, is horrible. Kids getting locked into an ecosystem at a young age? It’s almost criminal.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:20 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Getting locked into an ecosystem? What?
Schools will provide the iPads for students, just like they already have been. Those students can use that iPad just for textbooks, if that is how they, or more likely their parents, want it. There is nothing “locking” these kids into an ecosystem. Even if they use their iPad for everything else, I still fail to see how that is locking a kid into an ecosystem.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:42 AM EST reply Recommend (5) Flag actions
I think people are upset because this is something that’s inevitably going to propel the iPad and something other tablets are lacking. I don’t think many companies can do what Apple have just done, maybe Amazon.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:27 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
If I put what you just said as a definition of “locked in” I don’t think anyone would notice.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:41 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I think those people are mad because it is not Android.
What they don’t get is, Apple always leads and Google/Androiod and OEMs will follow. I am sure wont be long Google will announce their version of textbook builder/reader so at the end of the day, everyone benefits, specially the students.
PS. I love ITunes U. I have listened to many courses even I am out of college for a while.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:02 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
It is probably worth noting that Google has been engaged in a monumental project to digitize as much of the world of books as possible. While there is certainly some commercial aspect, it is risky and gigantic and something that no one else has attempted. They have been mired in the morass of copyright lawsuits but they have soldiered on.
Both Apple and Google as well as others are making efforts to create products and services that make education more widely available. The sort of whinging going on here makes me want to puke on the next person who whines about “closed eco system”. I wish people would stop complaining that others won’t do what the neck beards tell them to do.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:51 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Yeah except Google decided to try and do so without asking the people who own the works. Apple does it smart by getting the creators on board first, Google needs to learn you can’t take someone’s work and just do what you want with it and fix it later.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 5:12 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
The product is called iTunes U, as in “iTunes.” That’s like if Pepsi-cola sold textbooks and called them “Mountain Dew Maximum Learning.”
Nothing inherently evil about it, but definitely nefarious. If Apple cared about students, they’d allow all textbook content to be bought and accessed from a Mac or PC as well as from iPads. They’d even have a bigger market to sell content, but in teh end, they want to sell iPads, not textbooks.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:02 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
iTunes U is an established brand.. And it’s just the portal! Like iBooks.. You don’t go around saying Apple is attempting to make every book sold in the iBookstore be considered written by Apple, do you? Same with iTunes U, the courses are still from Yale for example, and are still a normal law course or whatever.. Also.. The textbooks you are talking about are being sold through iBooks.. Again.. Just a store, or portal to get these.. You don’t complain about the Android Market or Amazon, just portals where you buy stuff..
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 | 8:22 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Was I locked into the ecosystem of my 6th grade textbook? I fail to see the difference… You use the textbook. You learn stuff. You move on. The only difference is these textbooks are much better than what I had in school.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:06 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
Exactly what I was thinking.
People are looking at this the wrong way.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:22 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
You are locked in if you can only view your textbook on a particular company’s device. If digital textbooks are only distributed through one company’s service (and with Apple’s author tools restricted to just that, I can see it happening), this is the very definition of lock-in.
Knowledge is precious and no single company or group of companies should have a monopoly on the market and the distribution of related wares.
Posted on Jan 22, 2012 | 1:09 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
relax. the problem is that the kids will need a IPAD to use this stuff. they can’t use a android device or anything else but apple. the intention of apple is not to improve the education system but to make money. steve jobs wasn’t a particular great person or messiah. he just wanted to make money and own a successful company.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:20 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
For the official textbooks from publishers, yes. But the iBooks Author app allows for exporting to PDF.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:06 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
But can you sell your authored PDF in the iTunes store? I doubt it.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:04 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
No one said that improving education and making money were mutually exclusive. Of course Apple makes money, but if you can’t see that this also improves education then I don’t know what to tell you.
People are negative about education in this country and now that a company has given us a semblance of a solution people are still being negative.
Your argument that this should be on Android or Open has a fatal flaw. The fact is that, in general, open technologies are difficult to use for a layperson. In order for something like this to succeed you need to make it easy to use for both the content providers and the students. Only a company following a closed ecosystem could ensure the kind of quality assurance that a project like this would require to succeed.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 3:25 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
the idea of a company designing the learning experience for my kids is horrible! how can you not be concerned about this approach towards education? because you like your iphone? imagine a company gaining a monopoly on learning devices for schools and decides on what is allowed and what isn’t. a school has to train background knowledge. how something works and i don’t talk about the itunes store here. the ipad is more than a medium. its a company design experience and eco-system.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 4:04 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
You realize companies do that to some degree now with the textbooks, learning aids, and other things going into the classroom?
It’s been shown that the community at large cannot solve the problems maybe this will. And it’s not like this thing will play ads for apple every 10 minutes.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 5:14 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I don’t see how they are designing the learning experience. The same companies that created the text books that you and I grew up reading are still going to be the ones providing the content for the digital text books. The format will be different, but the learning experience will largely be the same if not better.
I get your concerns about kids becoming familiar with the Apple medium and gravitating to it out of familiarity. On the one hand, it could play out like Office did and become the de facto standard. On the other, it could play out like it did for Apple in the 80s when every school in America had Macintosh computers but Mac sales flopped regardless.
We will have to wait and see how that develops, but I mostly see this as a positive change. Especially with the crappy condition of the American educational system—at least someone is doing something.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 6:53 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
What’s wrong with letting kids buy and access iTextbooks from their Mac or PC laptops?
Apple would sell way more textbooks that way (and the content providers would make more money, too!), but Apple don’t want to sell textbooks, they want to sell iPads.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:06 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I agree. I think it is silly to limit iBooks 2 to only iPads. I understand their rationale in not making it an open standard to be accessible in Android or Kindle, but I don’t understand why they are keeping it off Macs. But you know Apple, they are always good for at least one retarded oversight when launching a new product.
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 | 9:47 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
So what are you saying? Apple shouldn’t be allowed to do this because they will get the kids ‘locked in’? Sure they’re not allowing it on Androids or PCs but if you see it from their perspective, 1) They’ll have to spend more time/money/effort for a product which won’t be as good on the other OSs 2) Less profit. Google, Microsoft and maybe some OEMs will follow suit soon.
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 | 4:14 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Apple should not be allowed to lock students in to their platform. That’s right. Can’t you see how that is a very bad thing? You create a two-tier system of those who can afford an iPad and those who cannot. Basing access to knowledge on someone’s income is not a fair method. Likewise, this pressures school boards into investing in Apple hardware instead of general-purpose computers, which can be used for more than filling Apple’s coffers.
Google, Microsoft and others will very unlikely be able to follow in Apple’s footsteps because you can bet that the publishers will have had to sign exclusivity deals to get their content on iBooks 2, just the same as writers who use Apple’s new authoring tool.
Posted on Jan 22, 2012 | 1:18 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Your acting like Apple is about to come and kidnap your kids from you cone down.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:20 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend (6) Flag actions
i will fight to the end if the school of my kids take this approach on education.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:22 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I hope that you are this passionate about other aspects of education (e.g. actual science being taught).
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:34 AM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
What sensible parent being would object to their children getting access better quality education tools?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:28 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
I would bet money he doesn’t actually have kids. Any parent who has seen the materials that their kids have to work with would jump at the chance for their child to learn with these new textbooks.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:35 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I don’t know if every struggling parent would jump at the chance to spend $500 on an iPad to get access to buy textbooks, which may be much more modern, but are usually provided in old fashioned form by the state for free.
Maybe if you could buy and view textbook content on a PC or laptop, then everyone would jump at it. Tells you what Apple is really interesting in selling.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:11 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I assume you’ve already been fighting to the end to stop the use of Usborne books and universal application of Windows PCs in schools?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:39 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:53 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
You say that like Samsung would want to do anything different or even better. Do they hell. They’re just as much the capitalists as Apple or Microsoft ever were regardless of the “open” platform.
Posted on Feb 22, 2012 | 4:21 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
This news has a lot of neckbeards angry. There’s no keeping them happy, just ignore them
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:28 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
So right, I hope they use HTML5 to code these books, then they can port them easily to all stores, regardless of the OS.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:11 AM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
Just like apple makes porting everying lese soo easy!
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:42 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Hilarious..
and where is Microsofts OS X Migration Assistant again?
Let’s not generalize now..
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:38 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I completely agree. Why couldn’t they develop an open source initiative for developing interactive e-books that everybody can use on any platform. This is just a cynical investment in a future customer base. Schools who buy into this kind of thing should be ashamed.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:15 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
Why would they do that? So that every other company gets to piggyback off of the platform they’ve built? I don’t think so.
The cost of an iPad + books for all four years of college now costs roughly what a single semester’s worth of books have cost students previously. You don’t have to use the device to do anything but read textbooks/coursework if you don’t want to… you’d still come out way ahead financially.
Everyone is looking at this all wrong. Don’t look at the iPad as a personal computing platform in this context… you have to look at the iPad as just a replacement for textbooks.
Would it be great if it was cross platform? Sure. Is that realistic? No. The reality is that before you would spend ~$500 on books for a semester, and either sold them back or had big heavy near useless (for you) books to carry with you forever. Now, instead of those books, you’ll have an iPad.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:19 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
That’s a good argument, but I think you’re mixing up the two products announced today. The textbook stuff seem catered towards high school education textbooks, which may or may not have been expensive. It’s good that they’re in that market, but I think you’re quite off the point if you think an iPad will do the same for the college market which is where the frustration is.
I’m very doubtful they’re willing to sell my Introduction to Regulation of the Petroleum Industries for $15. What happened here today is announced what they should have announced when they announced the iPad, and it’s not just their game too because I definitely think that Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and other book retailers are two years off the game.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:56 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Perhaps, I admit I am still trying to digest today’s announcement and consider all of its implication. I think it will take some time to really get a read on what this all means.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:07 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
And instead of getting half of your money back…you get none. Now thats the Apple way :D
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:55 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Apple could still control the means of distribution, iTunes, but there is no reason why they are limiting this to the iPad, except to sell iPads.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:14 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Yeah, this is pretty unlike the last 20 years, when kids learned using BeOS and Linux.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:38 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
best comment here
/thread
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:41 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
You must be great fun at parties.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:13 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Is this better than blackboard?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:55 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
Blackboard is a solid system – teachers just are too lazy/don’t know how to use it well.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:00 AM EST reply Recommend (6) Flag actions
It has some pretty harsh limitations, though, especially if the school is unwilling to pay for full services and server space (at least that is how it was in high school when I last used it). And it’s not readily available, as far as I am aware, on mobile devices. This may be iOS-only, but that is better than only being available on a computer screen.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:03 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
True. It’s only available to Sprint Customers (in the US) or if the school paid for mobile access. My school didn’t.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:04 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Most schools now use Moodle… it’s basically an open source version of blackboard, which is definitely not a bad thing, I actually think it’s very organized.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:10 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
Yeah, that is what my little sister (15, 9th grade) is using.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:21 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
apart from everything it looks like its poorly designed..
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:12 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
It definitely is poorly designed. But so are most educational systems
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:21 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
And that’s exactly why Apple is trying to jump in here. Imagine if delivering educational materials was actually easy and well organized?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:41 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Precisely. There is a fortune to be made on organizing and simplifying messy systems and Apple has a tendency to take those markets over. This is a gigantic push for the Educational market by them.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:22 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
just to give you an impression this is how my blackboard used to look like when I was in uni

and it hasn’t changed a bit!
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:23 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Teachers are “lazy”? Is it possible that, with all of their other work and responsibilities, it’s too much for them?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:40 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I administrate Blackboard. It is far from a “solid” system. We have to reboot it every couple of days because it becomes so unstable.
Every service pack is playing russian roulette too. Last time our testing system went down and PDFs stopped working and widespread error messages when doing basic actions.
Take a look at any Blackboard listserv and you’ll find hundreds of angry people who are excited to move away from Blackboard as soon as possible.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:08 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
Even Blackboard doesn’t know what it’s for or how t.o use it
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:52 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
It is arguably prettier than Blackboard, but it seems more limited in functionality.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:23 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
yeah it could but maybe we going to see this improved somehow or at least it will get the makers of blackboard to sit up..
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:28 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
It’s about time! I was getting sick of going into iTunes to get the content.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:58 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
There’s nothing I want more than to reduce both the cost and footprint of textbooks. A standardized digital format will help leverage these things; however, I’m curious as to how iBook and iTunes U submissions will be curated ( or censored, however you want to put it.)
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:04 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
It seems antithetical to the purpose to censor it at all. There might be some minimum bar of proving educational content or credentials for submitting content, and of course standard quality checks to ensure the content isn’t a jumbled mess.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:45 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Hi, I’m a time traveler from the year 2008. Where I’m from, Apple just announced their heavily curated App Store. Like this futuristic textbook thing you’re all talking about, some people here are complaining about possible censorship and abuse, but I agree with your assessment completely.
I mean, what possible motivation would Apple have to censor the content by which they already control the method of creation, distribution, and display? Being from 2008, I think it’s safe to trust Apple’s assurances, and I’m sure absolutely nothing will go wrong.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:21 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
From what I recall the textbooks publishers will adhere to their standards. I suspect it will mostly be quality assurance stuff for this. I don’t expect Apple will want to be in the business of validating content or standards adherence. I could of course be wrong.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 5:20 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
On getting iPads into students hands easier… it’s really simple, the schools have to provide them. This is a brilliant move on Apple’s part, as they will sell an incredible amount of iPads to schools now. Schools and Universities have already been providing iPads for students, and that was before there was a platform for textbooks and teaching on it.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:07 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
I haven’t done the math, but I’d be willing to bet, if college textbook prices are any indication, that one iPad per student for 4 years would be a lot cheaper than having to buy hundreds of textbooks every year. There are many schools in this country that knowingly delay updating their textbooks because of the tight budgetary restraints they’re under. This should, in theory, eliminate a lot of those barriers.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:48 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
True, but you still have to buy the digital books (if they are available) In the end it will probably cost the same, with more up front cost. Plus you will probably still need a computer. Sure you can use the iPad for a more things, but if there is a special app for the class (that hasn’t been virtualized) then you’ll be out of luck or have to go to the computer lab. All this stuff is really cool. but it would have been even better if this was built on open standards and could be viewed in any browser.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:58 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I don’t know what wholesale books cost, exactly, but if they come even close to the $100 and up you normally spend on a college textbook, the price through iBooks is dramatically cheaper.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 3:20 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
This is just genius. They seem to be unstoppable.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:10 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
I don’t know about this. As a college professor, I see some pretty significant limitations of iTunesU/iBook 2.0 compared to existing systems like Blackboard or Sakai.As mentioned above, this seems pretty looked in and iOS and Mac only with no web access. Unless your university provides an iPad for all students, this makes it a non-starter (some unis are heading this way, but far from all). If Apple had announced the platform for Android and a commitment to Windows 8 as well, I would have been more impressed (but the phrase “hell freezes over” comes to mind).
It also seems like it would be missing some core functionality in competing systems, such as a gradebook. Granted, I detest Blackboard’s gradebook and end up using a spreadsheet anyway, but many of my colleagues and students rely on such functions.
An additional issue would be whether it is possible to export notes from the books. One of the greatest limitations of ebook platforms is the relatively limited ways of interacting with notes. If this would allow one to export your notes with the relevant bibtex data to import into Mendeley or Endnote, I can see the appeal.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:18 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Hopefully this catches on. The iPod/iTunes was originally for Mac only, and we see how that turned out. Something has to change; the education industry (and don’t confuse it for anything else) needs a swift kick in the ass.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:24 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I’d be more interested in seeing MS or Google doing something like this… they have a better reputation of supporting other platforms.. Apple just wants to lock things up.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:26 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
As long as it’s something.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:28 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Did you say MS has a better rep for supporting other platforms? MS has always been about lock-in just as much as Apple.
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 | 1:57 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I certainly agree about the kick in the ass part…. I was hoping for something more disruptive from Apple as, with the possible exception of Google, it probably is the only one that could pull it off.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:31 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I don’t see this as intended to replace a full Learning Management System like Blackboard. It’s just textbooks.
As a user and administrator of Blackboard at a large university, I can’t wait to get rid of Blackboard. I don’t know what place iBooks has in our digital repertoire, but Blackboard is on its way out.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:18 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Well, it seems like it is intended to replace a significant part of what Blackboard—which is terrible, no doubt—and other LMS do (the iTunesU app, not the iBooks2 part). I fear that the net result is that a university would have duplicate systems with no way for them to interact.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:32 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
The LMS is here to stay, for the foreseeable future. However, I think it will be stripped down to its bare minimum (discussion board, grade book, document sharing, announcements) while all the richer interactions will happen through a network of tools for videoconferencing, flashcards, media streaming, academic community systems, etc.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:42 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Do you use Microsoft Office at your college? If so, then why don’t you have those same concerns?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:15 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I am not sure if this was directed to me or not, but if so I fail to see the comparison as they do very different things plus MS Word does not exactly lock you in a particular format that can only be used in one particular app.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:33 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Microsoft has tried to lock you into a format you can only use in their software but people have reverse engined a lot of their formats. Google Docs and OpenOffice.org are still not fully compatible with allof the features of Microsoft’s formats, mainly because of patent issues
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:37 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
This product isn’t directed at you or the education providor. It’s aimed at high school students and thier upper-middle-class parents who can’t imagine the limitations you propose, and see this as “the future.”
All Apple wants is for them to buy an iPad and get their credit cards attached to an Apple ID.
The think is called iTunes U for cryin’ out loud, it’s clear what Apple’s intent is here.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:26 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Wait, it doesn’t have a gradebook? That seems insane to me.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:32 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I am 100% for moving the textbook/education materials in a digital direction like this. Love it.
I am 100% against a system that would only work on products made by a single company. Hate it.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:36 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
So Windows was a problem for you?
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:50 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
Windows is made by Microsoft. It doesn’t make any of the computers Windows is on.
Welcome to the world.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:07 PM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
My point was actually that, within Windows, you have a suite of “necessary” products, also made by Microsoft, that makes owning both (buying into the ecosystem) more desirable in certain situations. That’s kinda how Windows became so dominant in the 90s.
Welcome to the world.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 3:18 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
My windows machine runs LibreOffice, Firefox, and VLC, and Microsoft made no effort to prevent me from installing that software, or to prevent those makers from developing and distributing it.
Microsoft held dominance because for a long while it actually made the best software. That’s obviously not true anymore, which is why many people don’t use any Microsoft software on their Windows PCs, but even in the 90s, Microsoft’s suite of “necessary” programs had to compete for Windows users just like everyone else.
Welcome to reality.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:33 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions
Ever hear of Gateway, IBM, Dell, to name a few? Yes they produced PCs that run windows, but having a choice of hardware and having high-end/low-end options is choice. I don’t mind Microsoft making money off Windows.
I understand that at a certain point a service like this would have to be somewhat ubiquitous, I do. Which is why I don’t mind Apple doing this. I just don’t want it to be “Buy our iPad in order to get these”. That’s all. I don’t like that with anything in the world, let alone tech and more importantly textbooks, which are a necessity for every student.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:58 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
People are always complaining whenever Apple comes out with something. “Closed ecosystem…money hungry…won’t let my kids join it” It’s just stupid arguments. In case anyone hasn’t realized, Apple Inc. is a business in the business of making money….and people are short-sighted. This is a step in the right direction and I will admit it isn’t perfect now by any stretch, but its a good step for the future. Just remembering my days of going to HS and College, this is great! And if this has any level of success, watch Android and Windows do the same thing….and then at that point it will be ok for people right? Give me a break. So many people are prisoners of the moment. Everyone can’t afford an iPad now, but maybe later everyone won’t’ have to. Maybe schools will supply them, maybe Apple will give big discounts to schools…who knows. I don’t know and neither does anyone else.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:45 AM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
I’m at university and I’m incredibly excited about this. I don’t get how I’m being locked into it, they’re textbooks, mostly, I’ll only use once despite what people always say, “oh i’ll keep it around, maybe i’ll use it again.”
As for the argument about them being passed down, perhaps, yeah, between students that differ in a few years, at the same university doing the same course, but textbooks change often.
The ability to carry them all around on one device, with great note taking ability at a decent price is massively appealing to me.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 11:56 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Everyone who doesnt like this idea cries out for the kids… even though they are clearly marketing this to adults.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:19 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I got it bad , so bad , I’m hot for teacher
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 12:22 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I may be late to the party here…But Joanna is hot!
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 1:20 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Yeah she is definitely a looker.
Especially considering she just had a baby last week.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:42 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
I’m one of the folks who’s really happy and excited about this. Not for what it means for schools, colleges or universities, but what it means for the everyday folks who have an iPad or iPhone or iPod Touch.
I want to live in a society where people are knowledgeable, where people spend free time learning and thinking. Although iTunes U content has been around for years, a dedicated app and the Courses make it so much more accessible and easy for people to learn. This is university content available for everyone – no tuition fees, no loans, no timetables. The only barrier between it and the individual is a lack of desire to learn.
This is so exciting.
For the folks without an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, there’s still the content on iTunes on a desktop or laptop.
For the folks without the great luxury of access to ANY of these items, that’s really unfortunate. But it’s a damn sight better than not having this content available at all outside of an expensive university degree that, first, requires a certain set of grades, and then, an acceptance, to undertake.
For me, it’s all to do with going back to the Greeks’ education for the sake of knowledge itself, resulting in an informed society. Not education in order to get a job.
I’d rather folks spent an hour each night listening to or watching or reading a few lectures than watching sitcoms and soaps. This just became even easier.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:22 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Go Apple. Take over every possible industry! Make those Droidlovers angry as hell.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 2:50 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
do you know what’s worse than the apple fanboy? the anti-apple fanboy.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 3:12 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
There is no way i could afford these courses in the US university, but i can do almost everything the student there does except the graduation itself. I can have all the knowledge, for free, up to date. This is AWESOME!
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 7:08 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Wouldn’t it be even awesomer if Apple sold this (HTML5) content to view on a laptop, instead of limiting it arbitrarily to the iPad?
They don’t need to make an Android version (no one is reasonably expecting that, nor should they), but there’s no reason they can’t sell textbooks for Mac and PC users, too, except that they want to sell iPads.
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 | 10:37 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
There was a story around here a couple of days of a HTML5 texbook platform, Chegg I think it was called.
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 | 5:01 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
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