New California laws provide free digital textbooks to college students

via digitaltrends.com

Detailed in the L.A. Times recently, California governor Jerry Brown signed two laws last week that will help new college students save money at the bookstore during their first semesters. Covered within two bills, the legislation will create a system where students at California’s universities will be able to download digital copies of textbooks for free. The first bill provides the resources to fund the creation of fifty digital textbooks, all open-source and specifically targeted for basic college courses. The second bill establishes the California Digital Open Source Library to host the books and offer students a single place to download copies of each textbook.

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9 Sites to Save You Big on College Textbooks

via mashable.com

It’s that time of year again, when college students scramble for textbooks, in the hopes they’ll have money left over for food and fun during the school year.

No longer does the campus bookstore have the monopoly on book sales. Students now have the option to buy their books elsewhere, often choosing to purchase used books online, or even rent textbooks from various sites. Some schools are even incorporating e-textbooks into their coursework.

The key is to find the right edition of a textbook at the right price, and that can take some research.

Fortunately, a few websites can help with that. Amazon has just hopped on the rental bandwagon, launching its own textbook rental service. Other sites offer books you can both rent and buy.

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Can Apple revolutionize the textbook industry? - Infographic

via worldwidelearn.com

For years, pundits have been predicting that e-textbooks will take the education world by storm, but so far, adoption has been slow. According to one analyst, digital textbooks accounted for only 3 percent of the textbook market at the end of 2011. But all that may be changing, as Apple announced its entry into the market with the new, free iBooks 2. In its first three days, the app delivered more than 350,000 copies of e-textbooks to users. Will Apple's golden touch tip the scales in favor of e-textbooks?

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iPads Vs Textbooks: We Crunch the Numbers - Infographic

via dsc.discovery.com

Looks like Apple is on the verge of capturing yet another lucrative market, and changing education as we know it… Or are they?

On Jan 19th, Apple made a huge announcement: iBooks 2 would “reinvent” the way students learn by offering interactive textbooks, and iBooks Author would make it easy for anyone, even without programming skills, to create those books.

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Why iPad Textbooks Are Still Too Expensive for Schools - Infographic

via mashable.com

When Apple announced its initiative to bring iPads into schools and provide textbooks in digital format, the reaction among many was enthusiastic. iPad textbooks are more interactive, they can be easily updated and they can’t be easily vandalized. The price Apple announced at their launch event — $14.99 per textbook — also sounded like a steal, certainly far cheaper than traditional textbooks. But when you dig into the fixed costs associated with digital textbooks vs. their paper counterparts, there are some major reasons to believe that iPad textbooks might not be coming to a school near you any time soon.

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Apple launches iBooks 2 digital textbooks

via news.cnet.com

The service, dubbed iBooks 2, will allow textbook makers to create fully interactive titles for Apple's iPad. According to the company, users will be able to swipe across the display to open textbook pages and view movies within each chapter. The operating system's familiar pinch and tapping features are also available, giving users more interaction with titles.

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