Am I the only one that thinks this is a good start, but severely lacking? Did Apple even think to discuss the usefulness of this with real professors, students, and school? I mean, seriously, there are some rather staggering flaws here.
Firstly, this is all based on the supposition that everyone has access to "broadband" internet. I am not talking about the poor among us; I am talking about the millions of citizens, and who knows how many students, which live in areas that do not provide broadband internet service anywhere near their homes. I happen to live in such an area. One can argue that the student can go to school to obtain a download, but that is not a solution.
Secondly, typing notes on an iPad, at the rate the information is put out, is not efficient. One of the biggest, most glaring problems with the iPad is the lack of a good, integrated handwriting recognition feature. In some of the college courses I have taken, I have observed some students using Windows-based tablet PCs. With the stylus that allow easier, more fluid access to writing notes the way students have been doing for centuries, as well as having quicker access to write, erase, and write again, among many more important features. I foresee this being one of the biggest points of failure, unless something changes.
Thirdly, there are still many professors that continue to ban any type of electronic device during lecture. Why those people are allowed to continue to teach is beyond me, but they are still teaching. Regardless of what people believe, there are still quite a lot of professors that ban electronic devices. Until schools start forcing these professors to change their classroom rules, or remove them from teaching, this will be another, albeit smaller, point of failure, or maybe just delayed acceptance.
Lastly, I believe the price of textbooks will not be as cheap as is being trumpeted. While I was running errands today, I checked into some of the available free courses, and I noticed something: There were few fee-based items in some of these courses. So, while textbooks may be priced at $14.99 USD, I have to wonder whether or nothing these courses will just "nickle and dime" students to death, to the point that these students are paying the same price, or more, for a non-physical copy of a textbook. One that cannot be sold, or traded.
If that will not be the case, then great. If it is, then I will prefer to sticking to physical books. At the very least, I can use my old textbooks as references, or give them to someone that cannot afford to attend college, but whats an education.
I am not saying iTunes U isn't a good thing; it is a good thing. We are starting to finally see a more widely released product that we have been promised since the early days of educational use of computers. I just think that this idea, as it currently exists, is too much hype, behind too little willpower and proper execution. Regardless, we have to start somewhere and this is a good place to start.
/techcrunch.com/2011/08/23/7notes-ipad-iphone/
realgebra, CourseSmart eTextbook, 6th Edition$64.80 | ISBN-13: 978-0-321-64489-3So how is it now that they can offer these titles for so little? I hope they all get so many lawsuits that they have to shut their doors.[/citation]
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