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iPad Textbooks in Public Schools – Not Quite

February 22 2012

The average high school student requires five textbooks – wouldn’t it be nice to replace them with 1.33 pound iPad? Undoubtedly, the answer is yes, but to do so isn’t as simple as you may think.

Before Apple CEO Steve Jobs passed away last year, he said that paper textbooks would be made obsolete by the iPad and it was his wish to offer electronic textbooks via the iPad for free.

At the beginning of 2012, Apple launched their interactive iBook textbooks for the iPad with all textbooks costing less than $15US each. But what Apple didn’t release is a program to cover or discount the cost of iPads for public school students to compete with how paper textbooks being provided to them cost free today.

Currently, public schools supply and cover the cost of paper textbooks for students and retain them for a number of years before replacing them with updated versions. At an average cost of $105 per text book, each book more than pays for itself since a number of students are able to utilize each book before it is replaced.

The cost of a single iPad (starting at $519CDN) plus the cost of the iBook textbooks (at $15 x 5 = $75) amount to much higher costs than paper textbooks do over the years: costs that public schools are simply unable to carry.

We love iPads (and tablets in general) at myBlueprint and think they have great educational purposes. What do you think?

Are Apple iBook textbooks on their way to revolutionizing the world of textbooks in high schools or are they far from revolutionary? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Side Note: Congrats to the myBlueprint iPad winners!

A student from Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Ontario and a student from GW Graham Middle Secondary School in Chilliwack, British Columbia recently won iPads courtesy of myBlueprint. A very big thank you to everyone who participated in our feedback contest! If you didn’t win this time don’t worry, we have more contests and awesome prizes on the horizon…stayed tuned!!


Comments

Mihir Garikiparithi on February 22nd, 2012
I Agree with everything that you guys said here. However, there is a way the ministry can embrace newer Technology. People who can afford ipads or other tablets should be allowed to substitute their textbooks with these devices. That way, the school could buy a small number of ipads and rent them out to students that wanted them.
Hernan Benavides on February 26th, 2012
This initiative can be realized as well by utilizing a different tablet. Take the RIM playbook at $199. This is an excellent alternative to the Ipad. It''s costs would be more than recovered in a short time. I believe it is a better alternative if you consider the processing power, weight and portability. I have an ipad and a playbook and for it''s portability and excellent performance and durability I do prefer the playbook. My advice is to look at alternatives. This is the direction to go. It makes sense economically, environmentally and long term well being of the students. Hernan Benavides
gil.silberstein on February 27th, 2012
Great point, Hernan! There are lots of (cheaper) alternatives that may work.

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