Apple recently introduced iBooks 2, an update to the iTunes e-reader app iBooks. The major change to the app that allows you to read books from your Apple iPad is the addition of interactive textbooks. Interactive textbooks are aimed to revolutionize the learning experience. Students can purchase textbooks through iBooks 2 and study with many more features and options designed to enhance their learning experience. Will iBooks 2 be the future of textbooks? Will we soon see every student studying from an iPad rather than paper copies of books? Only time will tell, but until then let’s take a look at textbooks with iBooks 2.

Features
The interactive features of textbooks on iBooks 2 are what really give it the potential to change the future of textbooks as we know it. Features like video, 3D graphics, and interactive images really make iBooks 2 textbooks stand out. For example, when studying a science book, you’ll be able to rotate and explore 3D diagrams and view processes in action. The ability to manipulate illustrations and photos for greater learning is amazing. In addition, interactive features enhance your learning abilities by making it easy to get the definition to any word with just a tap. You’re also able to highlight text and add your own notes anywhere in the textbook as you go. If you want to know more about something in particular, you can also instantly do a web or Wikipedia search. The possibilities are endless as to how you can use interactive textbooks.

Cost
Right now, there aren’t many textbooks available through iBooks 2, but that will certainly change. At this time, you can purchase a few different high school level textbooks for math and science. Now that developers have the option of adding textbooks to iBooks 2, we’re sure to see a great variety of textbooks being adapted for iBooks 2. Currently, all the books for sale cost just $14.99. One of the main benefits to iBooks 2 is that textbooks will be cheaper than buying a new, hardback copy. Since textbooks are incredibly expensive, this has great potential to draw many people toward iBooks 2. However, you need an iPad to access them. Will students be willing to purchase a $500 iPad to save on textbooks? How will the savings add up, and will it be worth it? For students who already own an iPad, buying interactive textbooks may be very appealing, provided they are less expensive than used copies.

The Future
Because the introduction of interactive textbooks is so new, it is still difficult to predict how they will change education. To start, lots more textbook publishers need to create interactive editions, but they almost certainly will. If it’s possible for all necessary textbooks to be read on an iPad, will schools decide to pay for iPads and provide them to students? For college students, will they be able to front the cost of an iPad? And if they do, is interactive really better than a traditional textbook? Will the interactive features really enhance learning, or are they just for show? In the upcoming years, expect to see more buzz over interactive textbooks and more indication of the ways iBooks 2 will change education.

Liz Evans is a freelancer and early adopter of new technologies, she encourages other writers to realize the value of a good grammar checker to ensure the delivery of superior work. Liz is also a fan of classical fiction and is currently reading The Scarlet Letter.

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