Last Tuesday the Secretary of Education said
“I think we should be moving from print to digital absolutely as fast as we can over the next couple of years. Textbooks should be obsolete.”
He was clear that he sees the digital transformation in schools as a “critical game changer” for the American education system.
He gave three reasons for the advocating a rapid shift:
Quick – what percentage of your iTunes library is produced by amateurs? For that matter how many books on your eReader of choice are self-published works?
If you are like most people the answer to both questions is “slim to none.”
The point is that quality matters in any medium. Moving from analog to digital doesn’t reduce expectations of quality – in many cases it increases it.
These are grim days for the world of education. Funding cuts past, present, and future loom over schools and districts. Class sizes are swelling, essential services are being trimmed, and any spending decision that can be delayed is sitting in limbo.
The companies that serve schools are feeling the pinch even deeper – while school budgets are down roughly 10%-15% scuttlebutt around the industry has most education companies down 20%-40% from 2011. Data systems, some technology niches, and companies with strong international presence are doing better, but those are the exceptions not the rule.
Relatively speaking schools have bad colds, we have pneumonia.
I’ve been on a bit of a blogcation since June. It has been a crazy summer both personally and professionally* and something had to give.
I’m back.
The K12 market has been in full meltdown since last November. Schools are struggling with state finances post stimulus, the Feds are not helping with threats of sequestration, and tablets are sucking up what little oxygen remains in the room. To top it off the uncertainty around the election is putting a pause on decisions.
iPads in the classroom are all the rage in the education publishing market – somedays the oxygen for discussing anything but learning tablets has been sucked out of the room.
As we move beyond the giggling crush stage there are a couple of points to consider that might give publishers a more grounded perspective on where we really are in the adoption cycle.
Falling Off The Learning Cliff
We Are Teachers has a bitter sweet post up about the funny things people say to teachers – with appropriate responses.
Here is a sample:
The comment: “Johnny NEVER misbehaves/has trouble paying attention/hits other kids/acts out at home. I wonder what you’re doing in the classroom to make that happen.”
In 1972, deep in the generational culture wars, Will the Circle Be Unbroken was released as a 3 LP set. A that time I was a budding 14 year old banjo player. It was refreshing to hear the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fusing their hippie sensibility with the mastery of more mature musicians like Earl Scruggs and Vassar Clements. It opened up a world of possibilities I hadn’t heard before.
To this day their take on Soldier’s Joy remains my favorite banjo song to play or listen to. IMHO all other versions pale in comparison.
Scruggs was both a master craftsman and a transformational musical innovator, a very rare combination. Bluegrass simply wouldn’t be what it is without him. Be like Earl and goodness will ensue.
My last post, Apple’s iPad Textbooks Cost 5x More Than Print, touched a live wire.
The majority of comments were positive. The general tone was support for iPads in the classroom (a position I share) but an appreciation for the realistic view of what it will cost to implement the vision today.
Oops – I Underestimated
From a Publisher’s perspective Apple’s iPad textbook initiative is a decent 1.0 release with promise. I’ve had a few weeks to play with iBooks Author and iBooks2 and discuss them with colleagues. I’ll write about the many positives in future posts.
But there is a worm in this apple. All the sweet promises Apple is making are going to slam headfirst into the funding issue. It will cost a school 552% more to implement iPad textbooks than it does to deploy books. That ain’t happening in THIS economy. The press reports I’ve seen have completely missed this because Apple “hand waved” their way around it.
Update – A follow on post discussion of reader responses is here.
UPDATE: For those who took offense at this graphic know that as I saw it the teachers’ drinking was a result of the cycle, not the cause. I interpreted this graphic as a slag on parents (myself included). If you are a teacher and were offended please accept my apology. If you are a parent and were offended – go volunteer in your local school. Regular readers will know that I have nothing but the highest respect for teachers.
One simple graphic from the always brilliant Jessica Hagy untangles the whole complicated mess.
Nuff said.
