iTextbooks? - Apple Gets in on the Digital Textbook Revolution

As long as I'm posting about digital textbooks, I might as well mention Apple.  Rumors are swirling around the Apple invite that has gone out to press saying,

“Join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple.”

 According to the Mashable article Apple is partnering with textbook publishers.  It all makes sense to me.  After all, why not utilize the now mainstream distribution channel of iTunes and iBooks, and start selling iTextbooks.

I think the bigger question for instructional designers and developers is how can WE publish into this system?  We also want to know if there will be interactive components to the textbooks.  At the very least I hope we're able to embed hyperlinks to YouTube videos, blog posts, etc.  I think some bonus functionality would be something like selecting some text within a textbook and posting it to social networks like twitter, or facebook, or google+.  This increases the factor of engagement significantly which is what students really need.  It's one thing to just sit and read a book.  But it's a significantly better experience if what is read can be shared and discussed with others.

Apple is not very good at the social thing yet.  Ping is lame and iCloud is still clunky and frustrating for many users.  However, they do understand the desire to publish content to other social systems and they have embraced that capability.  So, I'm hopeful they will continue along that path until they can get their own social network functioning...if they ever intend too.

Reflecting on the Apple Experience

I decided to take a break and sit outside the Apple store at the Biltmore in Phoenix today. I sit here with an iPhone 4 in my hands. I effortlessly swipe my thumb across the screen looking for the right icon. It's beautiful. Every pixel. Every icon. I simply marvel at this little device every day. I find the new Blogger icon and launch the app. The app opens. It's beautiful too. Not because Google made it that way, but because Apple MADE them make it that way. All the icons are just the right size in just the right place. Hey, look! There's the the camera icon. Tap. Point camera at Jobs memorial outside of Apple store. Tap. Photo inserted into blog post. (let's hope)
And so it's back to writing about this experience. When I'm done I'll Tap the Publish button and immediately have a photo and this text on my blog distributed to thousands of subscribers. No, Steve Jobs, and Apple, did not invent any of these technologies. Steve Jobs simply made using these technologies a pleasure and a joy. He insisted that the user experience come first and he made no compromise. And Apple executed on that vision. Not without mistakes along the way but with a singular vision of making wrongs right and always striving towards an excellent, effortless user experience.
I don't care what functionality people point out on other devices. There is no other technology like Apple technology and from what I can see from the current options available...there never will be.

iPhone Enterprise and SDK is here!!! Let the learning apps begin!!!

Today Steve Jobs presented the iPhone roadmap. I'm "delayed" blogging, instead of live blogging. That means I'm blogging while I watch the video.

iPhone moves into the Enterprise. SWEET!!! Watch out blackberry ;-)

iPhone SDK - iPhone Core OS, and iPhone Core Services (exposed API), Media layer (Core Audio, OpenAL, and more)
Embedded version of OpenGL...bla, bla, bla...Xcode is the development environment...bla, bla, bla...INTERFACE builder, SWEET! Interface Builder also has localation built in.

Basically, they've exposed everything you need to create some KILLER apps including games, and of course serious games.

So with all of these exposed APIs and code base, you will be able to not only deliver training, but you can deliver interactive...no...HIGHLY interactive training courses/content that are dynamically connected to your enterprise LMS for tracking.

Well, here we go. Now the iPhone is more than just a toy. Do you really need any other reasons to buy an iPhone? I'd love to hear if any of the eLearning tool developers are testing the SDK. Comment here or contact offline.

Apple lays out the future of mobile learning

Wow! Look at how beautiful that is! The price drops by $200 on the iPhone and the iPod Touch is a thing of beauty. So you don't want to switch to AT&T but still want the killer mobile web and beautiful touch screen? Well, your in luck. The Touch is just the device for you.

Can I here anyone say "Ultimate mobile learning device"? I had heard of schools testing iPhones with wi-fi only (they disable the phone service but utilize the wi-fi with the on-campus wireless network). Maybe we don't give every kid a laptop. Maybe we give them each a Touch...without the impending molestation charges of course.
Early reports of iPhone distribution in bulk were stifled by cost for many organizations, but maybe the new Touch and lower costs are just the thing to blow this whole mobile learning thing wide open.

I think other device makers must be simply ashamed and embarassed at this point. Palm killed its Foleo device yesterday. According to engadget

"Palm needs to focus on one thing right now, and that's coming out with a category-killing smartphone".

Gee...ya think!? But who the heck even WANTS a smartphone anymore when you can have an iPhone or a Touch? I mean really, people! Aren't you just a little embarassed when you have too pull out that dinosaur Treo or Blackberry in front of your iphone toting colleagues? Your geek cred is on the line.

If you read The eLearning Guild's 360 report on Mobile Learning then you know my thoughts on the iPhone as a Mobile Learning Device. It rocks! But it's not the first gen that will make mobile learning happen. It's THIS gen! More on why later.

Put the Touch on your Christmas wish list! This is good stuff!

Vista cries uncle! Crashing demo site & Crashed voice recognition Presentation

I just scanned the e-clippings and I'm howling at this post.

You still just THINKING about buying a Mac?

wait...it gets SO much better...

Check out this Microsoft Demo of voice recognition...via YouTube.

Go ahead and head on over to your nearest Mac Store and start doing some cool stuff.

iPhone Impacts Mobile eLearning

I tried getting a post up about the iPhone on the day of the keynote but since I have switched to the NEW version of blogger all of my typical posting apps have been messed up. So, I've discovered my new work-arounds and now I'm able to post again. I was hoping the new version of blogger would convince me to NOT switch to Wordpress, but its not looking good for blogger.

Anyways! The iPhone! Its beautiful! I love it! Mark Oehlert and I having already discussed saving our pennies for the big June release date.

So what does this mean for Mobile Learning? It certainly changes the technology landscape for what's possible...no question. Corporations have already commited to the Blackberry, and many of those same companies are testing or preparing to implement iPods for their employees as learning devices. So, for the same price you can now get a device that can handle both...AND THEN SOME!

Will corporations make the switch? I highly doubt it. PCs are simply too entrenched in the large corporate cultures. But the rest of us should take a serious look...small business, and even midsize companies. One device to replace them all. If the others are smart phones then the iPhone is the genius phone. You will actually be able to sync EVERYTHING from your Mac and be able to access it on the iPhone. Not in some crippled version of a browser, or mail app, but the same beautiful full featured apps that Mac users are familiar with on their desktops and laptops. I'm hating my Treo650 more and more each day.

So you say, "Brent, give me an example"? Okay, I was listening to a podcast version of the keynote this morning and the selective voicemail feature struck me. Wow! So, its already cool that you use a graphical interface to access your voicemail msgs...in any order. That's cool enough, but what else does that mean. Hey, why not use the voicemail system in the same way that we have intended to us podcasts for elearning?

Bingo! Instant podcasts, but created using a technology that everyone already knows how to use. There aren't THAT many "silver learners" out there that are still uncomfortable with voicemail? So now, you create a voicemail that becomes an artifact on the system no different from an email, a wiki page, an mp3, or avi, file. Perhaps we can drag 'n' drop those email files into garage band and make them part of a podcast, or mobile learning module. Collaborative audio recordings from translators in different languages: You send a script to them in Language A, they call you back and read the script in your voice mail using Language B, and you pull the voicemail file into your editing/authoring app. Many possibilities here.

I hope to have Judy Brown, the queen of mobile learning, on an upcoming podcast to discuss this in more detail. Or maybe I should wait until I have one in my hands...hmmm. Not sure.