The iPad as a Textbook

A couple of months ago, I stated in this post that Steve Jobs of Apple had stated to his biographer that information technology had not demonstrated revolutionary value for education. My interpretation is that he foresaw that the one area where this could happen would be to digitize textbooks and thereby undercut the huge rents that go to publishers every year.  It appears that the corporation has taken this further by attempting to build on the success of the iPad to deliver textbooks and other applications for young learners. Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post reports on the business approach taken by Apple in introducing a number of new approaches to delivering an interesting learning experience for learners.

There is a definite concern about the possible lock-in effect that would result from widespread adoption of the iPad and related software from Apple. Even assuming that this will be successful, one has to consider whether the quest to break the hold that textbook publishers have on education is worth breaking in exchange for the possibility of better education outcomes. I am inclined to believe that the delivery of education would be improved substantially and it is less likely that Apple would dominate for long since other manufacturers of tablet computers would be able to provide the same textbooks on their platforms.  An additional advantage is that the use of iPads and other tablets will call for innovative ways of delivering lessons.