Don't Call Them Textbooks - Technology. By Jeffrey R. Young 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. One publisher calls its products "personalized learning experiences," another "courseware," and one insists on using its own brand name, "MindTap. " "In the early days of TV, the first things you saw on TV were radio shows, and only over time did the next format evolve for that medium," says Don Kilburn, chief executive of Pearson Learning Solutions. Major publishers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past few years buying up software companies and building new digital divisions, betting that the future will bring an expanded role for publishers in higher education.
So far publishers produce only a limited number of titles in these born-digital formats, and the number of professors assigning them is relatively small. 16 e-textbook providers: Who’s publishing and who’s selling? The e-textbook movement stands to reshape instruction as new education technologies continue to fill classrooms via tablets and other mobile devices. Meanwhile, the e-textbook market continues to evolve, and though many of the publishers' names have remained the same, new players have emerged, and old companies are adopting new strategies. Here are 16 names in e-textbooks that you should know about, as well as what each of them are doing to set themselves apart in a competitive new area of education: 1.
KNO (Publisher) College e-textbook provider Kno expanded their market to the K-12 audience through a deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who previously offered K-12 social studies e-texts through the iPad. The books are rooted in Common Core standards, but aren’t state specific, and include 3D features, links, notes and videos. Kno’s books are available to rent for home study at $10 per title for iPad, web and Windows 7 readers, with Android support coming “soon.” 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Seven Free Platforms for Teaching Online Courses. More and more high schools are embracing online courses to reach more students and all times of the day. While you can spend a lot of money for online course software, you don't have to. Here are seven free platforms for teaching online courses. This list cannot begin without mentioning Moodle first.
Moodle is an free platform that is commonly referred to as a course management system or virtual learning environment. To use Moodle you have to either install it on your own server(s) or have someone host it for you. If you don't have a server of your own, a quick Google search for "Moodle hosting" will lead you to plenty of companies that will host Moodle for you. To learn more about Moodle watch the video introduction below. Claroline is an open source program that gives users the freedom to create their own online classroom. Udemy is a new free platform for teaching courses online.
RCampus is a free, web-based, platform for creating and conducting courses online. Visual Learning Systems Launches Interactive STEM iPad Textbook. Visual Learning Systems (VLS) has launched a first of its kind textbook for the iPad that you should know about. Tackling the challenge of engaging students in science, this new textbook taps into their natural curiosities by utilizing hands-on applications and leveraging all the features of the iPad. Packed with hundreds of captivating video clips, fun interactives, and vibrant images, student curiosity is peaked, making the curriculum come alive while opening their eyes and minds to the possibility of science as a career. Embedded self-assessment quizzes create the opportunity for students to learn at their own speed and comfort level.
“The book embodies the type of interactive learning we want the students to be using”, said Del Ruff, Director of STEM for North Carolina Virtual Public Schools. Spanning 31 chapters and over 1,000 pages “Core Ideas in Life Science” fully supports the Next Generation Science Standards. Udemy Launches Teach2013 To Bring Big Names To Online Courses. Could the future of education be taught by industry experts in an online setting? Udemy is trying to find out thanks to their new Teach2013 tool. It’s basically a call for experts and thought leaders to teach their own online courses. They’re hoping a crowd of people will encourage people like Bill Gates, Michelle Obama, Richard Branson, and Biz Stone to answer the call.
Udemy would of course stand to benefit from getting these big names, but it’s an interesting approach and it may not work. Only time will tell. More Details via Press Release Udemy, the leading online education marketplace, today launched Teach2013 , a campaign designed to empower and encourage industry experts worldwide to create online courses and deliver them to people around the globe in 2013. “Imagine what we could accomplish if every expert shared his or her knowledge with the world,” said Eren Bali, Udemy co-founder and chief executive officer. Tab Bar Icons For Mobile Apps - Here is a new Tab Bar Icons For Mobile Apps set, which will help each iPhone or iPad application developer get his GUI in order. The mobile industry is currently one of the most promising and lucrative. It is rapidly developing and adapting to the requirements of our modern lifestyle. This is why there is a great need for quality software to improve the efficiency of iOS users.
Using the set of Tab Bar Icons For Mobile Apps, it is possible to develop professional-looking applications for sellers, buyers, book-keepers, bankers, developers and other specialists. The newest set contains icons depicting various objects including people, money, clothe, transport, documents, devices and many more. There are also a number of icons representing professional positions such as doctor, policeman, teacher, worker, and boss. Technically, Tab Bar Icons For Mobile Apps include 759 unique app icons drawn in matching style, each coming in black and white versions. Resolutions of 20x20, 30x30, 40x40, and 60x60 pixels in PNG and PSD formats are included. More info is here: pixelledesigns.com. GUI Design: Spin Controls | GUI Journal. Spin controls have great potential for improving usability and making a GUI more efficient for the user.
In the 1980s Macintosh® implemented many GUI elements that most personal computer users had never seen before, including the spin control. Figure 1 is a screen shot of a portion of the Mac® OS4.2 Control Panel. Figure 1. Mac® OS4.2 RAM Cache Spin Control from Control Panel The spin control is displayed to the right of the RAM Cache text box. Figure 2 shows a screen shot of the Windows® 3.0 Desktop dialog. Figure 2. Notice the three spin controls in the lower right of this dialog. Figure 3. Note the five spin boxes at the top of the dialog.
Unfortunately, even though Macintosh had spin controls before Windows did, their implementation is not nearly as good even after all this time. Figure 4 shows a screen shot of the expanded iTunes® Print dialog on Mac OSX®. Figure 4. This is a dialog where multiple spin controls should have been used, but none were. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Knewton - Adaptive Learning Platform™ Products | iPhone App Design Templates - Get Custom Designs for your iOS Apps. Upload Folders to Google Drive Faster by Dragging-and-Dropping Them into Chrome. Google's Open Course Builder: A Giant Leap into 21st Century Online Learning. "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. " -- About Google Google is the most powerful nonhuman teacher ever known to actual humans. Implicitly and ceaselessly, Google performs formative assessments by collecting the following data: the content, genre and media that interests you most; when and for how long you access your external cloud brain; what your hobbies and routines are; with whom you work and communicate; who will get your November vote; and whether you prefer invigorating clean mint or enamel renewal toothpaste.
By continuously refining the nuance of your sociogram, Google has already customized your next web exploration and taught itself to teach. You Are Now Entering the Learning Management System If you are an advanced geek, you will be able to author and publish your own e-learning space using Open Course Builder. With his gray beard and soothing demeanor, Senior Research Scientist Daniel M. Credit: Google. Feathercap- Don't get an LMS! Get Feathercap. - Home. Interactive mind map with ThingLink.