TORONTO- Globalnews.ca live blogged Apple’s announcement on Thursday, when the tech giant announced that it would play a more important role in education.
People all over the world flooded social media sites with joy that being in school was cool again, or at least cheaper. Some also suggested that publishing as they knew it had changed forever. The idea that now everybody could publish textbooks was a strong suggestion.
But is it as simple as that? Should parents, students and educators be rallying around the news?
Wiley, a major player in the Canadian education market says it welcomes Apple’s new toolset, as it’s flexible and easy-to-use and also takes out inefficiencies of the print model.
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“Apple is tapping into the pedagogical expertise of publishers like Wiley to transform digital assets into effective teaching and learning materials,” said Susan Spilka, VP of Corporate Communications. “Its impressive and intuitive functionality has potential to move the world closer to realizing the digital transformation of teaching and learning.”
However, according to Dr. Gerry McIntyre, executive director for the Canadian Educational Resources Council (CERC), suggesting that ‘anybody can make a textbook’ is a troubling oversimplification.
McIntyre says that the expertise required to develop and construct high-quality learning resources (regardless of the format) is something that Canada’s education publishers have demonstrated consistently for many years.
“Student learning is best supported by thoughtfully-composed, well-structured resources that take into account such things as the student’s reading level, the concepts being taught in the curriculum, and the relevant methodologies for communicating that learning effectively,” said McIntyre.
Canadian Federation of Students national chair, Roxanne Dubois, seemed about as enthusiastic about the news as McIntyre. She said students and members of the academic community have many concerns around digital rights management on electronic course materials and how they can interfere with a student’s right to access the course materials they need for their education at a reasonable cost.
“Students in Canada are already struggling with the costs of post-secondary education,” said Dubois. “Many of us cannot afford top of the line products.”
SOUND OFF: Parents, tell us what you think about Apple’s new education role?
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