Apple Announces iBooks 2 As Well As iTunes U Updates
Apple have just finished their educational event in New York and with that we now know for sure the iBooks 2 has been launched. This now includes a new Textbook category, that you can view here. The entire point of the update is to bring the iPad more into the classroom.
“Authors are going to love to use iBooks Create to create not only textbooks, but any kind of book”, Schiller explained today.
It also supports Microsoft Word format and the app is clever enough to automatically create sections and headers and lay out the pages automagically when you drop a Word document onto the chapter.
Apple has announced that initially senior school textbooks through partners Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will be available through the new iBookstore textbooks category. Books will start at $14.99, Apple expressed that the three partners announced today currently produce 90% of the textbooks available.
Publisher, McGraw Hill is releasing the following books used by over three million students today: Algebra 1, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry and Physics.
Pearson will be releasing Algebra 1, Biology, Environmental Science, and Geometry (only two available today), with math books to be released in the future. Its books are currently used by about four millions worldwide.
Apple will also be working with DK Publishing who will be releasing four new books aimed at younger children on the iBookstore today. Those include: Dinosaurs and Prehistoric life, Natural History Insects, Natural History Animals, and My First ABC.
It will be very interesting to see if some UK publishers, or others even, join Apple so that the British students can also follow their curriculum this way, we’re sure this is something that Apple will be working on.
iTunes U
The iTunes U app gives you access to complete courses from leading universities and other schools — plus the world’s largest digital catalog of free education content — right on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Whether you’re majoring in molecular biology at a university, taking Spanish in high school, or just interested in European history, you now have a valuable tool to help you learn anytime, anywhere.
Free courses in a wide array of subjects
• Take free courses created and taught by instructors from leading universities and other schools
• See all assignments and updates from the instructor in one place, and check off assignments as you complete them
• Take notes and highlight text in iBooks and see them consolidated for easy reviewing in the iTunes U app
• Access course materials, including audio, video, books, documents & presentations, apps, and new iBooks textbooks for iPad
The world’s largest catalog of free education content
• Choose from more than 500,000 free lectures, videos, books, and other resources on thousands of subjects from Algebra to Zoology
• Browse collections from education and cultural institutions in 26 countries — including Stanford, Yale, MIT, Oxford, UC Berkeley, MoMA, the New York Public Library, and the Library of Congress
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
