Blogg

Apple launches iBook and thereby offers teachers and students of the world to participate in the development of digital teaching material. The reactions have been mostly positive, even though many questions remain unanswered.
Books have long functioned as our primary course material and source of new knowledge. We have read for generations and learnt to trust the written word. But this trust has gradually been replaced by the logic of the Internet, where publishing is happening according to completely different criteria.

Quality versus quantity

A couple of years ago, Internet was evaluated in terms of quality versus quantity. Many teachers agreed that the Internet hosted a lot of knowledge, while they were critical to the varied quality and the difficulties with finding proper sources. The internet was simply not a reliable source. Thusly, books proved superior, because of their clear referencing and the publishers that guaranteed the correctness of the content.
But now the tide has changed. With iBook the same type of quality can be assured, and referencing is as reliable as with any other book. Reliability is therefore not a problem, and quality is approached from other angles. Now we discuss quality in terms of updated information, and quality as regards the pedagogical approach. A regular course book only has text and image, while an iBook contain interactive material.
The interactive dimension leads to a deeper learning experience since numerous senses are activated through the learning process. What is more, iBooks encourages the student’s curiosity and willingness to learn, by making it possible for the student to click his or her way to in-depth information, contrasting information and alternative perspectives.

Digital education is the future

Apple’s launch can be expexted to influence schools and universities across the world, and will thereby shape our way of handling and relating to books, the written word and pedagogy. But that does mean that the iBook is complete. It is rather an important step towards a future where education will be increasingly influenced by digital media.
Our Knowledge Manager Christian Stenevi is already busy testing the publishing tools of iBook.
- The concept is extremely interesting, he says, but not even Apple has made it all the way. And that is for the better! The development with digital education can only benefit from many different companies and organisations engaging in finding the best solutions.