In which it’s the end of the Textbook as we know it

Posted By Kevin Gaugler on January 27, 2010

Yesterday on CNBC Terry McGraw of McGraw-Hill revealed that the company has been in detailed talks about bringing e-books to the soon-to-be launched Apple Tablet. The announcement from Steve Jobs today will certainly have a revolutionary affect on how we think about textbooks, particularly language textbooks. Imagine having a book in full color that has all media embedded with the pages of the book. Imagine a text in which video, text, audio and social interaction live harmoniously on a page that does not cause eye-strain and that can be manipulated and annotated as easily as paper. That’s what I predict we can expect from today’s Apple announcement. I plan on expanding my thoughts after I hear Steve Jobs’ vision later today. In any event, teachers, professors,  instructors and textbook authors, the disruption is coming in just a few hours and our profession will never be quite the same.  You can watch the video of Mr. McGraw’s comments, imagine the future of our profession and leave your thoughts below.  Can’t wait to hear from you.

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About the author

Kevin Gaugler

Kevin Gaugler is Associate Professor of Spanish and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Technology has always been part of the DNA of his teaching. As a graduate student, Dr. Gaugler began working in The University of Connecticut's state-of-the-art multimedia language center to research relationships between the 5Cs and instructional technology. While at Marist, he has developed a a FIPSE-funded course entitled Spanish and Technology and has helped to create Identity Quest, a course that rethinks technology and study abroad. He has presented his pedagogical innovations at numerous conferences and colleges in the United States and is the author of several monographs.

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