Sunday, January 22, 2012

Will teachers write their own textbooks?

The online world has been full of discussion these past few days over the release of Apple’s new authoring tool for e-textbooks. If you want to see the sunny, Apple version of what is being offered, go to their website and watch the video. I’ve downloaded the software and tried using it myself and it’s one of those programs that’s a pleasure to use. Input is easy for images, links, videos and presumably other media. I would advise any librarian who has a Mac and an iPad to download it and try it out. But, of course, there is a catch.

Despite Apple’s claim that the software will revolutionize textbooks in classrooms, there are many difficulties in its way. The most important is the expense of providing iPads for all students in a school. What are librarians and teachers going to do about the proliferation of valuable material that can only be accessed through expensive devices? Some schools and many libraries have a BYOD policy of “Bring Your Own Device” and that may work in some situations. It’s not likely to be accepted in many communities where almost none of the families can afford to buy an iPad, much less providing one for each child in the family. And school districts, struggling to pay for paper and pencils, are unlikely to be able to supply and maintain enough of these devices to satisfy classroom needs.

There is another problem, and that is the authors’ and publishers’ rights to sell their materials through any outlet they choose. Anyone who develops content in ibooks/author program has to agree to sell only through Apple. Several commentators have pointed out the ramifications of this, including the Huffington Post.

Does this mean that public institutions like schools and libraries should avoid supplying these products? It’s seems to me there is a useful place for this program right now while we are still waiting for possible legal challenges to the restrictions Apple is placing on it.

The exception to Apple’s tight hold on the materials produced is for anything that is given free to users. Wouldn’t an ibooks/authors presentation of lessons or instructions be useful for many purposes? A teacher could put her lesson about California Missions into a small package including text, illustrations, perhaps a video and provide it on the school library webpage. Or a librarian could format a lesson of library instruction and make it available on the same webpage. These are materials that are routinely offered free to library patrons and students. Because Apple exempts the free distributions of materials developed in its author program, there would be no conflict in developing these. And think how you would impress the tweens and teens who come to the library and use it.

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