Apple Inc. is integrating technological advancement into the world of education.
The company introduced the launch of iBooks 2.0, an application available for iPhone and iPad only, on Jan. 19.
According to Apple's website, iBooks 2.0 is "an entirely new kind of textbook that's dynamic, current, engrossing and truly interactive."
The iPad version is a touch screen-friendly textbook featuring interactive diagrams, videos, multi-dimensional objects, photos and easy note-taking abilities. The launch also includes access to iBooks Author, a free app that would allow professors to create their own textbooks.
Top publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have already added textbooks to the online store.
John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and co-worker of the late Steve Jobs, said Apple has always had the intention of changing education through technological innovation.
"I understand that Steve saw the chance to reinvent the whole textbook market so that it would be less expensive and more accessible to more people," Sculley said. "Apple is trying to make the iPad a standard for education."
He said Apple is working on ways for teachers to use the electronic textbooks in their curricula and is constantly thinking of ways educators can use tablet computers.
Ed Kellerman, a senior lecturer at UF's William and Grace Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication, said he uses video and photo examples in many of his lectures.
"We won't have much of a choice as to whether or not to use this technology in the coming years," Kellerman said.
This summer will be his first time teaching his Introduction to Communication Studies class completely online and essentially paper-free.
He wrote the textbook for his introductory course and said he would consider using the iBooks Author program if it were to become popular.
If a complete switch to Apple's interactive textbooks were to occur, textbook retailers could experience some loss of business. Apple offers textbooks at a fraction of the price, according to the company's website.
Doby Gray, textbook manager at Gator Textbooks Inc. in Gainesville, said he has heard of the new Apple textbook program but does not think it will end the bookstore business in the near future. However, he said he believes it is important to stay aware.
"We are threatened a little bit. It's like the horse and buggy syndrome," he said. "When the horse and buggy met the automobile, they thought it was temporary. Those are the ones that got left behind."
