educational

Apple unveiled today iBooks 2, a "new textbook experience" for the iPad and the company's attempt to bury traditional schoolbooks.

"Clearly, no printed textbook can compete," Roger Rosner, an Apple vice president, said during a press event this morning at New York's Guggenheim Museum.

The company also announced iBooks Author, a free app for self-publishing e-books, and improvements to the iTunes U app that puts entire courses online and allows instructors to post syllabi and messages for students.

Before unveiling the plan, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, noted the … Read more

Apple's iTunes U has received a major facelift.

The company announced today at its New York City education-focused event that iTunes U will now become a go-to hub for both students and professors at the college level. The service allows professors to post messages, send out assignments, and share syllabi.

On the student side, the application allows full access to course material, including video, documents, apps, textbooks, and other content. As one might expect, the service will have full integration with iBooks.

When new assignments pop up in iTunes U, students will be able to complete them and then … Read more

Although Apple's education event in New York focused on students, the company today also unveiled a new author platform.

Dubbed iBooks Author, the free Mac OS X application lets authors create textbooks and other books with simple drag-and-drop mechanisms. According to Apple, the application gives authors basic templates to quickly create titles that offer both text and interactive elements such as videos and images. To add multimedia content, iBooks Author lets users drag and drop content onto pages.

In deference to those who want to create more unique titles, Apple says folks who can code in JavaScript and HTML … Read more

We've put it off long enough, and today we'll finally spend time discussing Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), an incendiary bill written by Texas Congressman Lamar Smith that would effectively put an end to any Web site that would "steal America's innovative and creative products, attract more than 53 billion visits a year, and threaten more than 19 million American jobs."… Read more

First personal computers crept into the classroom, followed by smart phones and tablets. Now, it's robots.

Media research company Latitude finds that robots have great potential as education tools. A study published today, which was done in collaboration with Lego Learning Institute, said robotics open up new ways of learning by blurring the line between play and work. Robots can also help students work at their own pace and enhance their ability to be self-directed, according to the study.

"Education and learning are moving, at least in many children's eyes, beyond acts of knowledge transmission toward acts … Read more

Whatever Apple announces later this week, it is expected to open a new chapter for tech in the education community.

Though the company is being typically tight-lipped over what it plans to announce, observers expect Apple to unveil a new technology that optimizes textbooks for iPads and allows user interaction with the content. Apple has been working with publisher McGraw-Hill on its announcement since June, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Meanwhile, sources tell Ars Technica that Apple will unveil new tools to help create interactive e-books and will expand its current platform to distribute them. The project was … Read more

Apple is planning to hold a special education-focused event in New York City next week.

The iPhone maker earlier today sent out invites to media outlets, asking them to "join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple." Apple did not disclose what it will discuss at the event, which will be held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Earlier this month, Fox's Clayton Morris reported that Apple was planning to hold an education-focused event in New York last year, but the company decided to delay it until 2012. Morris, citing sources, said that the January … Read more

Yes, the job market is terrible. But if you think outsourcing, increasing use of robots, and a downright lame global economy have made times tough, just wait till other primates start adding to the competition.

The crew that brought us other enlightening infographics--like this classic on the science behind toilet paper orientation--has this tongue in cheek look at the threat that trained monkeys and apes could pose to your next job search. … Read more

The thing about cell phone video is that it can capture people in their natural state.

From what one can see in the cell phone video captured by 15-year-old special needs student Julio Artuz, his teacher's state is not always serene.

According to ABC News, Artuz had already told his parents that his teacher, Steven Roth, was treating him in a less than educative manner.

His parents didn't believe him. His father--also named Julio--was so skeptical that he told his son to prove it. So angling his cell phone in a highly professional manner, young Julio captured Roth … Read more