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The recently announced update to Apple’s iBooks app has been lauded as an incredible change for education, reinventing the textbook as we know it, and allowing teachers to become content creators like never before. The upgraded app has its fair share of fans, but there are many teachers who just aren’t buying the hype. Common complaints include the cost of investment, closed software, and even the idea that students are in need of a bigger change than just multimedia books. Read on, and we’ll expand on some of the biggest problems teachers are finding with the new iBooks app.
1 The idea that public schools can afford iPads is laughable:
To iBooks, many teachers are saying, in much kinder words, "Are you freaking serious? We have to make kids buy their own hand sanitizer. How are we supposed to find room in the budget for iPads?" But seriously, even though the books seem to be a steal at $14.99 or less, the hardware is the killer here. Plenty of schools are laying off teachers because they can’t pay them, so it’s laughable to think they might be able to find million dollar budgets with which they can purchase textbooks. According to CNET, a small school of just 700 students would need a grant of $350,000 just to buy iPads, and in order to fill those iPads with all the necessary books, it would be more like half a million dollars.
Thanks to Kaitlyn.
