IBooks
From MPublishing
Notes on iBooks 2 and iBooks Author
Contents |
iBooks 2 Highlights
- runs on all iOS devices
- built in dictionary
- search/web lookup
- highlighting and saving highlighted material (with any color)
- underlining feature
- able to take notes
- All your notes and highlights automatically appear on study cards. Flip them over and find the definition of a glossary term or the note attached to the highlighted passage.
- bookmarks the page your on automatically
- can download a small sample of a book before purchasing
- also stores PDFs
- swiping/touching options to make chapter and section navigation easy
- pinch and slide to return to Table of Contents
- interactive media, diagrams, 3D images, zoom, etc.
- Can download updates to textbooks, at no additional charge.
iBooks Author Highlights
- free app
- The application includes templates to quickly create books, but users can also drag and drop images and video into the title. To add text, users can drag and drop a Word file, automatically creating sections and headers.
- auto formatting
- no programming experience needed
- Has a built-in tool, Dashcode, for creating widgets.
- templates (customizable) OR create one
- type or drag/drop
- instant text flow
- widgets create interactive elements (keynote, 3D, slideshows, can be web-based so always up to date)
- portrait or landscape views (portrait = more text-based with thumbnails in margin)
- Can export final content to iBooks store, PDF, text
- iBooks Author uses VoiceOver technology to make content accessible to those with vision impairments
Positives/Negatives
Positives
- Goal = dynamic/adaptive learning
- Very helpful as another tool for differentiated education
- Creates a very different pricing model for higher education
- Reinventing the education publishing value-chain
- born-digital emphasized
- Another useful tool to deliver material (one of many outlets)
Negatives
- stand alone – only on apple platform (what about multiple channels?)
- version control
- missing review component (to share/review before publishing, various people working on it at the same time)
- workflow management
- web only or desktop view? (not practical for everyone to have iPads)
- should have print, desktop, and mobile
- broad audience and publishing (ePub3?)
- Publishers who want to use javascript, html, 3D, etc. may still need to find outside help
- Does not allow for versioning
- Who is validating the uploaded content? Is apple reviewing?
- copyright and permissions problems
- Need Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later or higher to download iBooks Author
Resources
Book Publisher FAQ
Adding PDFs to iBooks Library
