iOS 7 Pushing Desktop Computers Out?

Robert X. Cringely, the pen name for tech journalist Mark Stephens, recently blogged about a future of computing where smartphones replace desktop computers. That future began with the launch of iOS 7 and the iPhone 5s, a device as powerful as some laptops that also enables Bluetooth connectivity.

In fact, he wrote, a move away from desktop to mobile technology is part of Apple’s strategy.

“Here’s what I expect we’ll see,” Cringely said. “Go to your desk at work and, using Bluetooth and AirPlay, the iPhone 5s or 6 in your pocket will automatically link to your keyboard, mouse, and display. Processing and storage will be in your pocket and, to some extent, in the cloud. Your desktop will require only a generic display, keyboard, mouse, and some sort of AirPlay device, possibly an Apple TV that looks a lot like a Google ChromeCast.”

If Cringely is correct, it could also mean more big changes in education, according to Joshua Kim in his technology blog for Inside Higher Education. Replacing desktop computers with mobile devices would allow learning platforms to be merged into mobile apps that could be updated regularly.

“A desktop-replacement mobile device would enable us to bundle e-learning content with the e-learning platform,” Kim wrote. “All curricular materials could be delivered to the mobile device, synced to the cloud, and designed to work seamlessly with the mobile learning tools.”

Udemy Launches iOS Learning App

The online learning web site Udemy already offers both free and paid courses in its effort to differentiate itself from the other massive open online course platforms. Now, Udemy has released an iPhone app to make it easier to access courses from smartphones.

From surveys of more than 600 students, Udemy found that nearly 50% said on-demand access was the most important thing about online learning.

The app will allow users to browse, then sign up for either free or paid courses. It will also provide access to video lectures, articles, and presentations in a mobile format, save the courses for offline viewing, and let users watch videos at multiple speeds.

“We talk to our students constantly,” Dinesh Thiru, vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “We find that Udemy students are taking their courses from planes, trains, and buses, during lunch, from the comfort of their couch, or before bed. With the Udemy iPhone app, we want to empower even more students to learn where and when they want to learn.”

One thing the iOS app does not yet offer is the social element to allow students to interact with peers, although that should become available in a future update. The company is also looking to bring its online marketplace to Android in the coming months.

Survey: Students Use More Native Apps

As more and more school districts, colleges, and universities turn to mobile devices to enhance learning, understanding how students use those devices becomes important. Purdue University conducted as survey in the fall of 2011 to find out which gadgets its students were using and if they had a preference between device-neutral web applications or “native” apps built for a specific platform.

Student Preferences of Mobile App Usage, by Kyle Bowen, director of informatics, and Matthew D. Pistilli, research scientist for information technology at Purdue, didn’t try to settle the debate on which mobile category was best, but rather tried to determine what was being used and on what type of device.

The report, recently released by Educause, found that 83% of the 1,566 responding students owned Android phones or iPhones and that the same percentage felt they had intermediate or advanced skills in using their preferred gadget. The study found a significant number of students spent more time using native apps to access course-related tasks and viewed the apps as faster and easier to use, but added that those numbers may have more to do with the marketing of apps.

“It is clear that students who own smartphones have owned them for some time—the vast majority for a year or more,” the researchers wrote. “Further, they spend hours each day consuming everything that smartphones have to offer. This level of usage presents a great opportunity for institutions to deliver new services and technologies—not by creating a new destination but by claiming a virtual footprint in a place where students are already spending considerable time.”

Khan Academy Launches iPhone App

The Khan Academy, which started as a way for Sal Khan to help his cousin do math homework, has blossomed into nearly 3,600 teaching videos that have been viewed more than 210 million time worldwide. Now, Khan is expanding his reach with the creation of an iPhone app for viewing the tutorials.

The new app will not allow users to download videos for offline viewing on their phones, as is the case with the iPad app already in use. However, the iPhone app will make it possible for busy students to watch the lesson while on a bus or in a car.

“This might make the app seem undercooked—and in a way it is—but it could actually be a smart move given the limited form factor,” wrote Rip Empson in his TechCrunch blog. “Stuffing the entire Khan Academy experience onto the iPhone’s screen would likely diminish the experience of its visualization tools, interactive transcriptions, and some of its better gamification and progress-tracking features.”

With an Android app to surely follow, the strategy should also expose a lot more potential learners to the Khan videos.

E-book apps take the lead in the Apple App Store

According to the Mobclix website, the number of e-book apps has surpassed the number of apps in all other categories. Over the past year, e-book apps have been in the top five along with games, education, entertainment, and travel but this is the first time e-books have taken the lead. Over the last four weeks, an additional 6,000 e-book apps have been added to the app store increasing the total from 20,621 (14.3%) to 26,977 (18.6%). The games category follows e-books with 25,334 apps (17.5%). Education is in fourth with 9,900 apps (6.8%).

Abilene Christian University to explore potential of iPad

According to a recent article, Abilene Christian University will soon acquire 20 iPads so that faculty can begin exploring potential pilot opportunities for the device and research how future generations will consume textbooks. Kenneth Pybus, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the university, believes that there are many opportunities for the device. Pybus commented, “I can’t guarantee it will be a game-changer in reading and learning, just like I can’t guarantee it will be a game-changer in news consumption. But it’s the best possibility to come along in the past 100 years.”

Faculty are also encouraged to come up with new app ideas for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. By this fall, all students at the university will be participating in the mobile learning program which provides an iPhone or iPod Touch device to all incoming freshman. Developers at the university have already created several interesting applications for the university and according to MacNewsWorld, they have been working on an iPad app for their student newspaper. Kenneth Pybus noted, “We can’t wait until [the iPad] is adopted by a critical mass of people. We want to be up and running and there when they’re ready for us.” Compared to the newspaper app that was developed for the iPhone/iPod Touch, the iPad app will have better interfacing to Facebook and better integration of video, photos, and text.

Macmillan introduces new platform for e-textbooks

Earlier this week, Macmillan introduced a new platform called DynamicBooks that will give professors the opportunity to create custom digital textbooks from existing titles. Professors will be able to rearrange chapters; upload links, video or audio; rewrite or delete portions of the text; and upload the course syllabus. According to an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, changes to the original text will be clearly labeled so that students can easily recognize the modifications. Another article from The New York Times says the books will be sold at about half the cost of the traditional print books. Macmillan is willing to sell the e-textbooks for less because it expects that the e-textbook sales will replace the sale of used books.

Beginning in August, students will be able to buy the e-textbooks through the DynamicBooks website, college stores, and CourseSmart. The books can be read on laptops or the iPhone and the company plans to negotiate with Apple so that the books can be read on the iPad.

140,000 apps available in the Apple store

In October 2009, Apple announced that its customers had downloaded over two billion apps from the Apple app store and there were 85,000 apps to choose from. By January 2010, Apple had reached its three billionth download and now there are over 140,000 apps. An interesting chart on the Mobclix website shows the number of apps in each of the 20 app categories. Books and Education apps are in the top 5 with 20,621 applications (14.3%) and 9,293 (6.4%) respectively. The number of apps in both of these categories has nearly doubled since October. We can expect that the number of apps as well as the sophistication of these apps will continue to increase in the coming months when the iPad becomes available.

In addition, Apple is nearing its 10 billionth song download. You can see how quickly the downloads are occurring via this counter on the iTunes webpage.

Local Books iPhone app

LibraryThing created a great iPhone app to help users locate their local bookstores, libraries, and upcoming book events. The app is called Local Books and it includes maps and details for 51,000 venues. LibraryThing notes that the current app does not show inventory for the bookstores and libraries but points out that it would be a great idea.

An interesting iPhone milestone

A new report from Flurry, a company that provides metrics for smartphone usage, says that for the first time since the Apple app store debuted in July 2008, the number of book apps released in a single month surpassed game apps. According to the report, from August 2008 to August 2009, more apps were released in the games category than any other but in September and October book apps took the lead. A chart on the website shows that in October, 20% of the newly released apps were book apps.

A posting on the Flurry blog notes that the iPhone has impacted several companies including Nintendo which recently cited the iPhone as one of the reasons its profits fell last quarter. Flurry predicts that Apple could begin to take market share from other devices such as the Amazon Kindle. The posting notes, “Despite the smaller form factor of the display, we predict that the iPhone will be a significant player in the book category of the Media & Entertainment space. Further, with Apple working on a larger tablet form factor, running on the iPhone OS, we believe Jeff Bezos and team will face significant competition.”

As we have mentioned previously, Apple has the potential to make a large impact on our industry. Apple could not only take market share from Amazon but from all booksellers including college stores. More e-book/reading apps are now being introduced than gaming apps, not bad for a device some people said neither they nor their students would ever read upon. Of course, the iPhone is not quite the device for reading textbooks, but how far off can that device really be?

How to create a personal library on your iPhone

An interesting posting on the Accredited Online University website features a listing of 75 apps “to turn your iPhone into the ultimate personal library.” The list is divided into categories and includes apps for book readers, dictionaries, news, bestsellers, and classics.

Results of Abilene Christian University iPhone/iPod Touch pilot

Last year, Abilene Christian University became the first university to provide incoming freshman with an iPhone or iPod Touch device in an effort to use mobile technology to enhance learning. To incorporate the devices into the classroom, programmers at the university created several applications to connect students and faculty in more ways. Some examples of the applications include: a “clicker” classroom response system, attendance, calendars, and campus maps.

According to a recent article from Inside Higher Ed, a report about the first year of the study has been compiled and it shows very positive results. A survey of the participants found that 89 percent of students and 87 percent of faculty feel that the program was successful. The university plans to continue to distribute iPhones and iPod Touch devices to all incoming freshman so that within a few years all students at the university have a device. The university is also encouraging more professors to incorporate the technology into their classrooms and to conduct more experiments. In addition, Abilene Christian hopes that other schools will implement similar pilots so that more data can be collected to access the effectiveness of mobile technology on college campuses.

Apple hits two billion iPhone app downloads

In April, Apple announced that its customers downloaded over one billion apps from the Apple app store. Now, just five months later, Apple has reached the two billion mark and added an additional 50,000 apps to the store to bring the current total to 85,000 apps.

An interesting chart on the Mobclix website shows the number of apps in each of the 20 app categories. Of the 85,000 apps, there are 10,204 book apps and 5,312 education apps. The number of apps in both of these categories has more than doubled since April.

With the popularity of the app store increasing everyday and rumors that a large screen Apple tablet will hit the market early next year, Apple could make a considerable impact in the higher education market in the coming months.

Barnes & Noble app hits one million downloads

A new report from Barnes & Noble confirms that e-book app downloads are continuing to gain popularity. In July, B&N launched two free apps to give iPhone and smartphone users access to its titles as well as store event calendars, directions, and other B&N information. Now, just a few months later, it is being reported that both apps have already been downloaded over one million times. According to the press release, the B&N eReader app for the iPhone was also the number one app in the iTunes Books category this summer.

iPhone app for textbook comparison shopping

An interesting new iPhone App for textbook comparison shopping has been released. The app is called Bigwords and it utilizes a process called “Multi-Item Price Optimization” to search 30 sources to determine the best deal for a student’s textbook shopping list. The sources include sites such as Amazon, CourseSmart, textbook.com, and sellbackyourbooks.com. According to a posting on the Gadgetwise blog, the company says that utilizing the app can save students over 35 percent compared to buying online without the search engine.

Apple clears up e-book app rumor

After Apple rejected the Google Voice app it was reported on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) and other blogs that Apple would also be rejecting all new e-book submissions for iPhone apps because "this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing upon third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store." Apple recently cleared up the rumor and stated, “We have not stopped approving ebook readers and ebooks in fact we've approved 221 new ebooks to the App Store since 7/30/09. The book category in the App Store lists 6,000 apps and this doesn't cover the full scope since ebooks are included in other categories like medical, reference and education."

CourseSmart e-textbooks available on the iPhone

CourseSmart has become the latest company to join in on the Apple iPhone app trend and has released an app for its e-textbooks. According to an article from The Wall Street Journal, CourseSmart subscribers will be able to access the free iPone app to review the textbooks they have purchased as well as utilize a search function. Subscribers will also be able to review any notes that were added to the content from their PC. The app does not let users add or edit the notes but that feature will be made available in the future. With CourseSmart subscriptions, students can typically access a text for 180-days so it is assumed that the books will be available on the iPhone app for the same time period.

Frank Lyman, CourseSmart's executive vice president commented on how the app could be used, “Nobody is going to use their iPhone to do their homework, but this does provide real mobile learning. If you're in a study group and you have a question, you can immediately access your text."

In addition, an article from CNET features a video demonstration of the new app.

Blackboard acquires Terriblyclever Design, iPhone app company

In an effort to maintain its position as the leading learning management system, Blackboard had decided to move into mobile devices and acquire Terriblyclever Design, creator of iPhone applications. Terriblyclever Design was founded by Stanford students in 2007 and since then, the company has created several successful iPhone apps for universities including: Stanford University, Duke University, Texas A & M University, and UC San Diego. The apps offer students and campus personnel a variety of features including the ability to use an interactive campus map, browse the university’s catalog, locate the campus shuttle, watch campus related content on YouTube and iTunes, and search a campus directory.

Blackboard now plans to expand the iPhone app offerings to many more universities. In an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Matthew Small, chief business officer of Blackboard was asked why Blackboard would invest so much in a young company. Mr. Small commented, “Every single school is going to have an iPhone application. For Blackboard, the question is, How do we bring teaching and learning to where students are, which is on mobile devices?” He went on to say, “If you’re going to hire top iPhone development experts, they’re going to be students.”

Stanza app turns one

Following the one year anniversary of the Apple App Store, Stanza, the popular iPhone book reading app has also just reached the one year mark. According to a news release from Amazon, the Stanza app already has two million users and more than 12 million books have been downloaded. Neelan Choksi, CEO of Lexcycle, creator of Stanza, commented, “These milestones highlight that many people are quite comfortable reading full length books via Stanza on their iPhones and iPod touch. From commercial titles by Stephenie Meyer and Dan Brown to public domain titles by F. Scott Fitzgerald and H.G. Wells, we are thrilled to learn that Stanza has been partially responsible for a lot of people reading more in the past year than they have in years prior to that.” Lexcycle was acquired by Amazon in April, giving Amazon two of the top reading apps for the iPhone.

Apple App Store Turns One

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Apple App Store. In just one year, the store has gained enormous popularity with over 56,000 apps and more than one billion downloads. In April, the Mobclix website featured a breakdown of the number of apps in each of the 20 app categories. At that time, there were 4842 book apps and 2313 educations apps. Just since April, the number of book apps has increased to 7856 and the number of education apps to 3973. We can expect that the number of apps as well as the sophistication of these apps will continue to increase in the coming months.