iBooksAuthor-JAMF-SW-June2013

 

Description
Self Publishing Using iBooks Author is aimed towards introducing you to using to Apple’s powerful eBook authoring software, the new possibilities it provides, and help start you on the path to creating your very own books to share and distribute.

Being an eBook about iBooks Author, created using iBooks Author, we will take advantage of this and  explore every facet of this software while demonstrating on the pages how we went about creating the layouts and designs you see using iBooks Author’s many features.

Free.
Available on iPad.

From DSC: re: Adobe’s Project Context:
This is the type of hardware/software combination that I’ve been hoping for and envisioning! Excellent!

It appears to be the type of setup whereby students could quickly and easily collaborate with one another — in a face-to-face setting (and ideally in remote locations as well) — by not just displaying files but also being able to share files with one another.  Files can be sent up to the interactive, multi-touch displays as well as to an interactive table. So it’s not just displaying files, but actually sharing files and being able to collaboratively work on a project.

Eventually, I see this being able to be done in your living room.  What if MOOCs could integrate this type of web-based collaboration into their projects?

But for now, this is a HUGE step forward in this vision. Great work Adobe! This is innovative! Very helpful!

Example screenshots:

 

AdobeProjectContext-May2013

 

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AdobeProjectContext-1

 

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AdobeProjectContext-2

 

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Also see:

  • Adobe’s hardware experiments are more than just hobbies: Hands-on with Project Context – from techcrunch.com by Frederic Lardinois
    Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
    At its MAX conference in Los Angeles [on 5/6/13], Adobe showed  quite a few products that will soon be available to its customers, but it also highlighted a number of hardware experiments, including Project Context, a totally re-imagined way for creating magazine layouts, as well as an advanced stylus and a ruler for touchscreens.

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project_context_screen_1

10 developer tips to build a responsive website [infographic] — from readwrite.com by Dan Rowinski

Excerpt:

Responsive design is a concept where you build your website once and then format it so it can adapt to any screen size that accesses it. Designers use HTML5 and CSS to build the sites and set parameters so the content will resize itself whether the user is in vertical or horizontal viewing mode, on a tablet, desktop or smartphone or even a screen as large as a television.

 

Also see:

 

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Digization, sole growth engine for Europe’s creative industries? — from inaglobal.fr/en/… by Nicolas Vaquier
[NEWS] According to a recently published study entitled The Digital Future of Creative U.K., digitization is the sole growth engine for Europe’s creative industries.
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Excerpt from Conclusion:

Finally, the study delivers conclusions for the whole of the creative industries and forecasts for their future. It notes that with the fragmentation of media consumption, advertising money is now divided between a number of players. While total advertising revenues have climbed, individual companies can no longer expect profits to be as high as they were in the past. Online advertising is still a challenge, and the monetization of already existing content will not be enough to meet it. The Digital Future of Creative U.K. furthermore highlights the complementarity of digital and analog, refuting the idea of one technology’s cannibalization of the other, using the example of catch-up television.

The study announces the transformation of the value creation chain. The horizontal integration of production, distribution and marketing intermediaries that prevailed in the traditional system will be dissolved by more profitable digital alternatives, diminishing the importance of these intermediaries. The study predicts that the concept of “chain” will furthermore be replaced by that of a “network” of relations, with consumption and participation at its heart. The rise in the number of players and the lowering of entry barriers will thus allow for greater quantity as well as relevance of content on offer.

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unbound-Matt-MacInnis-Feb2013

 

Some notes from DSC — with thanks to Mr. Steven Chevalia for the initial resource/video:

Changes in the past were mainly about the methods of getting knowledge onto paper.

Only 3 key medium changes

  1. Oral speaking/tradition to writing
  2. Writing to print
  3. Print to electronic

But now, the traditional book model is coming unbound.

Amazon.com:

  • Controls customers — 30% of books sold through them
  • Controls product – forced to build products that are a $10 text model

Inkling is introducing two main changes to get away from that empire’s methods of doing business:

  1. A way to build for the medium — Inkling Habitat  — “The only collaborative publishing environment designed for professionals.”
  2. A new way to discover and sell your materials (which uses normal Google searches vs having to go through Amazon.com) — Inkling’s Content Discovery Platform

 

Inkling-CDP-Jan2013

 

imgZine-Feb2013

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From DSC:
Hmmmm…I wonder how this might apply to education? Will we move more towards personal brands vs. institutional brands?

The object formerly known as the textbook– from The Chronicle by Jeff Young

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Don't Call Them Textbooks 1

Holly Gressley for The Chronicle

 

Excerpt:

Textbook publishers argue that their newest digital products shouldn’t even be called “textbooks.” They’re really software programs built to deliver a mix of text, videos, and homework assignments. But delivering them is just the beginning. No old-school textbook was able to be customized for each student in the classroom. The books never graded the homework. And while they contain sample exam questions, they couldn’t administer the test themselves.

One publisher calls its products “personalized learning experiences,” another “courseware,” and one insists on using its own brand name, “MindTap.” For now, this new product could be called “the object formerly known as the textbook.”

 

From DSC:
Imagine how this sort of thing might fit into the “chalkboard of the future” — as applications and content flow onto the “board” from open source repositories and/or from the publishers’ cloud-based repositories of content…

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Daniel Christian: The Chalkboard of the Future

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or in learning from the living room…

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The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

 

Also see:

7th graders publish their own textbook — from learninginhand.com by Tony Vincent

 

 

Also see:

  • Readz launches to provide publishers DIY solution to optimize content for tablets — from betakit.com by Humayun Khan
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  • 7 outstanding free books for your iPad — from educatorstechnology.com
    Excerpt:
    Below is a list of some excellent books for your iPad. I have curated this list over  the last couple of months and I kept adding to it every time I stumble upon a resource somewhere online.I don’t know if you like reading books on your iPad or not but let me tell you this: having at least a couple of titles installed on your iPad would really be of great help particularly in those moments when you are stuck somewhere and have nothing to do but waiting. Reading is a habit ( luckily a good one ) that we can ACQUIRE  by force of habituation at least in the eyes of Skinnerian theory.The more you read , the fluent you get at reading and the more used your mind becomes to the act of reading.  Check out these books I selected for you. All of them are free and require iBooks. Enjoy.

 

Addendum on 1/22/13:

McGraw-Hill & Kno offer a peek into the future of textbooks: They’re dynamic, vocal, adaptive & bring stats to studying — from techcrunch.com by Rip Empson

Excerpt:

The suite leverages adaptive learning technology — one of the hottest topics in education this past year — which, simply put, seeks to personalize the educational experience by collecting data on student comprehension (knowledge, skill and confidence), employing algorithms to create customized study plans/paths based on that data. The goal being to keep students engaged (and improving) by helping them to identify and focus on areas where they’re struggling.

 

Prediction from DSC:
I’d like to take these developments one step further…

These developments will find their way into our living rooms, via second screen devices and interactions with Smart/Connected TVs. Highly-sophisticated, back-end, behind the scenes technologies will continue to develop (think Next Gen Knewton or IBM’s Watson) — aiding in the fulfillment of one’s learning objectives. Personalized, digital playlists will be presented and will feature multimedia-based content, with chances for more choice, more control, interactivity, social learning, and more. They will meet us where we are at (i.e. in our Zone of Proximal Development), and encourage us to keep learning via game-like interfaces…but will try not to overwhelm or discourage us.  But live persons will either be instantly available to assist, and/or will help us walk through the steps, and/or perhaps we’ll go through these types of exercises in virtual cohorts (that come together quickly, then once finished with the badge or exercise, will disband).

 

 

From DSC:
The other day, I mentioned how important it will be for institutions of higher education to increase the priority of experimentation. Clicking on the graphic below will give you an example of the kind of vision/experiment that I’m talking about.

(Though, more practically speaking, to operationalize this type of vision would actually require a series of much smaller experiments; I just wanted to present the overall vision of how these pieces might fit together).

 

DanielChristian--Jan2013-Experiment-with-Apples-Ecosystem

NOTE:
This 11″x17″ image is a 10MB PDF file, so it may take some time to appear.
Feel free to right-click on the graphic in order to download/save/print the file as well.

 

Also relevant is this upcoming event from educause:

 

1/8/13 addendum resulting from a Tweet from a great colleague, Mr. Travis LaFleur (@travislafleur), UX Designer at BiggsGilmore

 

 

McGraw-Hill to sell education business to Apollo for $2.5 billion — from gilfuseducationgroup.com

Excerpt:

McGraw-Hill’s education print revenues have been rapidly declining while the company has had great difficulties and political infighting about evolving to digital products and services. Essentially the education division needs a “change of control” to help get its act together. Can a change of control help?

The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) (“the Company”) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its McGraw-Hill Education business to investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) (collectively with its subsidiaries, “Apollo”), for a purchase price of $2.5 billion, subject to certain closing adjustments.  As part of this transaction, McGraw-Hill will receive $250 million in senior unsecured notes issued by the purchaser at an annual interest rate of 8.5%.  The transaction, which is expected to close in late 2012 or early 2013, is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

 

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The education giant adapts — from MIT Technology Review by Jessica Leber
Pearson is the world’s largest book publisher. Now it wants to be a one-stop shop for digital education.

Excerpt:

Pearson pulled this off with a decade-long string of acquisitions that helped it shift its emphasis from selling books to selling education services. The London-based company styles itself as the “world’s leading learning company,” even if that learning isn’t delivered through traditional books. These days, Pearson is more like an IT department for classrooms and schools. It sells technology infrastructure, software, and consulting services to schools—services that in turn help deliver the vast stock of textbook content Pearson owns. The company says its revenue from online content and services will surpass those of the traditional publishing business this year.

From DSC:
I congratulate Pearson on reinventing itself.  The words of Steve Jobs ring in my mind…something about cannibalizing one’s business before someone else does it for you.  Several other words and phrases come to my mind after seeing the above article — that regular readers of this blog and my archived website will instantly recognize:

  • Dangers of the status quo
  • Staying relevant
  • Survival
  • Disruption/change
  • New business models
  • Game-changing environment
  • Using teams of specialists

Also relevant here/see:

 

Dept. of Ed. taps online learning startup Knewton for at-risk youth program — from gigaom.com by Ki Mae Heussner
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that it will partner with online learning startup Knewton and publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a program aimed at helping millions of at-risk youth transition to traditional schools and prepare for the workforce.

Also see:

26 iBooks Author how-to videos — from freetech4teachers.com by Richard Byrne

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Addendum on 11/19/12:

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tablo.com.au

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