Apple's Textbook Initiative to Feature Strong K-12 Focus, Aid Publishers Large and Small

[parseckadet]

So "the ability to determine what to teach kids in THEIR schools" is a good thing, unless we're talking about Texans? Then it's about "ram it down their throats"?

It's not Texas's fault that other states are too cheap to take care of their own students, and take the easy way out...

Woah, calm down there buddy. I'm not saying this is any fault of Texas, and I live there myself. Texas is one of only two or three states that actually enjoys the freedom of being able to tell the textbook publishers exactly what they want. They have this freedom solely because of the size of their student population. When a publisher has a choice of crafting a textbook to match the curriculum of a specific state, they can either craft it to fit the curriculum of Texas, with the second largest number of students of any state, or Colorado, which is much lower. Which do you think they'll do?

Edit to add: It's not about other states being too cheap. It's about them not being able to guarantee the publishers the large volumes of book sales like Texas and California can. States like Colorado are never going to have the resources to be able to do that, because their student populations are just a fraction of the bigger states.

 

[Dizzy11523]

Only book nerds care about this "rumor".

 

[evalex]

You guys are missing one aspect of what goes on in the K-12 side of the textbook industry. Only a few states, mainly California and Texas, have large enough markets for publishers to specifically target books towards. They get whatever they want out of their curriculum, and other states are often forced to adapt their curriculums so they are able to make use of the books designed for the large states. Eliminating the need to print millions of copies of a textbook in order to turn a profit will give the other 48 states the freedom to determine their own curriculum.

The one possible downside of this newfound freedom is that it might further increase the fragmentation of education among party lines/ideological differences and the areas they dominate.

Publishers (or "publishers") are free to print whatever they want and give this material the same production values, accesibility, and distribution opportunities as the Oxford University Presses and Prentice Halls of the world. While it's awesome for free speech and information dissemination, it also means that it becomes *that* much easier to be a "legitimate academic source" (granted, that doesn't account for things like reputation or peer review and whatnot) whereas stuff like getting enough money for print or distribution might have been a limiting factor before.

It's not a particularly big worry for the majority of places and people, but it would concern me in particularly "fringe" cases (like homeschooling or towns based around religious compounds).

Don't like what's printed in your textbooks? Well, just write your own! As long as your kids can pass a vague baseline on a standardized reading and math test, it doesn't matter what their science or history books say! As long as the school board approves, you can teach kids basically anything if they can read and add decently.

What I am looking forward to is science textbooks that are up-to-date on the research. The average college biology textbook is usually like 10 years behind the research (hence why we depended much more on papers when I was a bio major) and the average public high school one is like a quarter of a century behind.

 

[BornAgainMac]

there is so much free information on the internet there is no need to keep books around for years.

I wish that was true.

Some books I had in college I would gladly pay double of what I paid. None of the information was available on the Internet for any price. I only got rid of my books because it helped when moving several times after college.

 

[AustinIllini]

Some books I had in college I would gladly pay double of what I paid. None of the information was available on the Internet for any price. I only got rid of my books because it helped when moving several times after college.

Agreed. Try looking up anything engineering related on the internet. The information may be there, but it is hidden in extensive journals, or else on old flash websites that don't work. I kept a number of my text books, but I wish I had kept them all (then again, the money went to some pretty fun partying experiences)

 

[Rodimus Prime]

You guys are missing one aspect of what goes on in the K-12 side of the textbook industry. Only a few states, mainly California and Texas, have large enough markets for publishers to specifically target books towards. They get whatever they want out of their curriculum, and other states are often forced to adapt their curriculums so they are able to make use of the books designed for the large states. Eliminating the need to print millions of copies of a textbook in order to turn a profit will give the other 48 states the freedom to determine their own curriculum. States like Colorado won't have to accept science texts that omit evolution just because some evangelical committee member in Texas was able to throw his weight around and get it eliminated from the curriculum in his state. This is where the revolution is. Finally providing every state, and even individual school districts, the ability to determine what to teach kids in THEIR schools, instead of having non-elected officials in another state ram it down their throats.

Used to the case but in todays world it is chump change if any to do changes for the book for every state. The printing cost is VERY VERY minor in terms of each books cost.

They could easily make a different version for each state and it would be very minor if any extra printing and shipping cost. The real cost is in the writing part, IP fees paid for the content of the book and so on.

Other wise it would have no changed on how things work now as the bulk of the cost of publishing a book goes unchanged.

 

[slrandall]

Time for greedy publishers to pass some of the savings they make through electronic distribution on to their customers.

I'm sure they're greedy and overcharging in some cases, but usually not with college textbooks. I don't know if you've ever tried to write a good textbook, but I'd imagine that it's pretty damn hard. I always feel like I'm getting a great value out of the books I buy.

there is so much free information on the internet there is no need to keep books around for years.

That's just simply not true for anyone past their second year as an undergraduate.

 

[george-brooks]

Oh no!! I was really hoping this would be focusing on higher ed, but alas, the high school students are the ones with the most heavy books in their bags at once

 

[kyjaotkb]

In the world we live in, stuffing iPads in kids' backpacks is a bad idea. Nothing - revolutionary, just a very bad idea.

1) Kids don't need any more screens to look at. They'd better be directed to books, without any interactivity or social functions, without shiny colours, because books are the no-frills media where you can face yourself and concentrate. A computer or an iPad aren't.

2) Kids need to learn on a device they can't play with. Educational material imho must be somewhat "sacred", it should be different from leisure material, it must impose respect

3) In my country (France), kids with an iPad would generate tragedies. I predict kids assaulted on the street, beaten, attacked, wounded by guys hanging around in the street. I can see thugs waiting for the innocent children on the way to the bus stop to rob and traumatize them. Every week, you can hear about kids being victims of racket. Cell phones, Nikes, leather jackets. I don't think equipping kids with an EUR 500 tablet can be a reasonable idea.

4) In my country, again (which has not only downsides), school is supposed to be the place for equal opportunities and rights. Equipping the rich children with iPads (obviously I don't see the State paying for thousands of 500 EUR iPads that will become stolen or damaged in 6 months) and leaving the poor with paper would foster a feeling of inequality that leads to violence and instability. Like British children stick with the Uniform, I can see children of the world stick with paper.


I think it's OK for Apple to tease and play with the consumes' addiction to gadget - but we're not talking consumer electronics here, not consumption at all, but investing into our children's future.
And that's a far different story altogether !

 

[Squeak825]

You guys are missing one aspect of what goes on in the K-12 side of the textbook industry. Only a few states, mainly California and Texas, have large enough markets for publishers to specifically target books towards. They get whatever they want out of their curriculum, and other states are often forced to adapt their curriculums so they are able to make use of the books designed for the large states. Eliminating the need to print millions of copies of a textbook in order to turn a profit will give the other 48 states the freedom to determine their own curriculum. States like Colorado won't have to accept science texts that omit evolution just because some evangelical committee member in Texas was able to throw his weight around and get it eliminated from the curriculum in his state. This is where the revolution is. Finally providing every state, and even individual school districts, the ability to determine what to teach kids in THEIR schools, instead of having non-elected officials in another state ram it down their throats.

The act of *printing* state specific textbooks is not the expensive part. You just send the PDF to the printer. Printing, Binding & Distribution is one of the lower costs in the scheme of things.

What costs some much money is *creating* that PDF for that state, ensuring all of the content correlates to that state's standards. Plus, you have to pay for permissions for photos, texts, etc.

Every state that wants their "own thing", means an Editor dedicated to making that happen. eBooks don't solve that problem. They just shift some (not all) of those costs around PB&D, to server infrastructure, sys admins.

 

[HurtinMinorKey]

I'm sure they're greedy and overcharging in some cases, but usually not with college textbooks. I don't know if you've ever tried to write a good textbook, but I'd imagine that it's pretty damn hard. I always feel like I'm getting a great value out of the books I buy.

That's just simply not true for anyone past their second year as an undergraduate.

Um, this won't be a problem in the long run. For advanced topics, graduate courses, maybe.

But even so. k-12 should all be open source. There is very little standing in the way of this. It would only take minimal organization.

The fact that school systems pay anything for these textbooks is a crime.

 

[jlc1978]

This is where the revolution is. Finally providing every state, and even individual school districts, the ability to determine what to teach kids in THEIR schools, instead of having non-elected officials in another state ram it down their throats.

Which, of course, means every district is now fee to adjust their textbook based on the whims of the school board - often an elected body that appeals to a narrow segment of the local population.

Is what Apple *may* be doing a good thing - yes - but don't kid yourself that the tool won't be used by both sides in a battle over what gets put into curriculum.

 

[alephnull12]

I hope this does not mean that Apple is one again going to realign / relegate itself to the ghetto of the education market, like it did back in the 90's. That would be a shame. First priority should be to nibble at the business market, as Jobs always has wanted to do and set out to do in the beginning (in the 80's).

 

[gnasher729]

And what will happen to this "book" once it can't be opened by some newer or older technology?

ePub2 is a standard with wide support. ePub3 is a standard, currently with less support, but that is coming. Do you worry about not being able to open PDF documents? It's about the same thing.

 

[jacg]

Don't school boards choose text books, and isn't it all based on lobbying and sweetheart deals?

How is Apple going to be able to penetrate this market?

Surely an eBook could determine your location then, for example, present the evidence for evolution or intelligent design, depending on where you were. This way, a single textbook could cater for every political agenda.




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I would love - being a teacher - to make my own digital interactive textbooks!

Yes. I'm excited about this. All I need is for all my students to get iPads... Or for iPads to break out of their 1to1 model (not going to happen most people would say).

 

[c.s.]

Is it just me, or could this also be a swipe at Adobe? Certainly the tools could be used for other books and magazines, and they have to be better and less expensive than Adobe's current Digital Publishing Suite / InDesign platform.

 

[jacg]

Winder if there will be anything relevant for Europe, or the ROW

Hopefully tools or software.

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Did you go to college? Do you remember how heavy those bastards are?

We still need a solution to the "flipping" problem. When you've spent enough time with a textbook, your fingers eventually know where things are and the binding seems to form a "memory" of most visited pages. You can flip to relevant sections easily, often without even having to add little flags or bookmarks.

It is a lot harder to navigate an eBook. You can search for text, hyperlink through an index, or set your own bookmarks, but none of these interactions are actually *faster*.

Really? Bookmarking seems pretty robust to me. You just learn new strategies. For example, I wouldn't open a dictionary now, as I already have one in iOS and os x.

 

[Johnsalzarulo]

Authors and Musicians

Apple completely leveled the playing field for musicians with iTunes. World wide distributorship with no risk. They allowed independent musicians to be placed on the same shelf as anyone else with no middleman. I am hoping they do something similar in the publishing world. This would turn things upside down. An author being able to publish instantly, worldwide, with no risk. No publishers telling them what to do or taking their money. I am very excited for the prospect of what could be. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[brianbauer04]

In the world we live in, stuffing iPads in kids' backpacks is a bad idea. Nothing - revolutionary, just a very bad idea.

1) Kids don't need any more screens to look at. They'd better be directed to books, without any interactivity or social functions, without shiny colours, because books are the no-frills media where you can face yourself and concentrate. A computer or an iPad aren't.

2) Kids need to learn on a device they can't play with. Educational material imho must be somewhat "sacred", it should be different from leisure material, it must impose respect

3) In my country (France), kids with an iPad would generate tragedies. I predict kids assaulted on the street, beaten, attacked, wounded by guys hanging around in the street. I can see thugs waiting for the innocent children on the way to the bus stop to rob and traumatize them. Every week, you can hear about kids being victims of racket. Cell phones, Nikes, leather jackets. I don't think equipping kids with an EUR 500 tablet can be a reasonable idea.

4) In my country, again (which has not only downsides), school is supposed to be the place for equal opportunities and rights. Equipping the rich children with iPads (obviously I don't see the State paying for thousands of 500 EUR iPads that will become stolen or damaged in 6 months) and leaving the poor with paper would foster a feeling of inequality that leads to violence and instability. Like British children stick with the Uniform, I can see children of the world stick with paper.


I think it's OK for Apple to tease and play with the consumes' addiction to gadget - but we're not talking consumer electronics here, not consumption at all, but investing into our children's future.
And that's a far different story altogether !

An education-only iPad can be engraved to say "Property of XYZ school" and have an education-only version of iOS. At that point they have nearly zero resale value because anyone in possession of the iPad aside from the assigned student is holding stolen goods and has no way to argue that he didn't know it was stolen. No pawn broker would touch it because it's an easy way to shut down his entire business.

 

[slrandall]

Um, this won't be a problem in the long run. For advanced topics, graduate courses, maybe.

But even so. k-12 should all be open source. There is very little standing in the way of this. It would only take minimal organization.

The fact that school systems pay anything for these textbooks is a crime.

That's not a crime. Knowledge isn't free, and writing a good textbook is hard and should be rewarded.

 

[peterdevries]

Did you go to college? Do you remember how heavy those bastards are?

For Apple this has nothing to do with reducing weight of backpacks. It has to do with two things:

1. Pulling people at the youngest age possible into the ecosystem, so they will get accustomed to Apple stuff and will buy them for the rest of their lives. See: iPod Shuffle - iPod Nano - iPod Touch - iPhone chain - Macs-chain.
2. Creating a necessity for students to get their books through the iBook store and getting 30% of revenue for each purchase (if 85% of the class has an ipad and the e-book on it, what are you going to do?).

 

[parseckadet]

Which, of course, means every district is now fee to adjust their textbook based on the whims of the school board - often an elected body that appeals to a narrow segment of the local population.

Is what Apple *may* be doing a good thing - yes - but don't kid yourself that the tool won't be used by both sides in a battle over what gets put into curriculum.

Oh, of course that will happen. But at least the members of that school board were elected by the residents of the district, and also subject to recall elections if things got too out of hand. However, one local idiot won't affect the education of tens of millions of students across the country, in districts and communities who never voted for him, such as is the case now.

 

[damir00]

Which, of course, means every district is now fee to adjust their textbook based on the whims of the school board - often an elected body that appeals to a narrow segment of the local population.

That's just a complicated way of claiming Democracy doesn't work.

What you describe is exactly what *should* happen in a vibrant democracy.

 

[ncaissie]

Death to the 40-Pound Backpack!

Exactly! My 6 year old is very tiny and her backpack weighs more than she does.
If she falls back she would be like a turtle. LOL
I feel bad for her. They have a binder agenda and with her lunch and gym clothes it gets big.

 

[ncaissie]

Oh. For some reason I thought this had something to do with creating an independent textbook industry, part of Steve Jobs' dream of changing public education or something.

If it's just a way to eliminate backpacks, yawn, I guess.

Isn't the resale value issue more about college text books? What happens to public school text books? I remember them just getting older and older, I used to enjoy looking in the front cover and seeing a log of students who had the book going back to the early 1970s.

Yes but now days we parents have to buy more and more stuff. We have to pay for books they are probably reusing. (If left clean) We even have to send Kleenex and stuff we never had to pay for when I was a kid. I'm 38 now.