Image by Sam Webster

When Apple unveiled three new pieces of educational software this week, it also presented its vision for the future of education. The iBooks 2 platform will allow students to download fully interactive digital textbooks (350,000 textbooks have reportedly already been downloaded), while the iBooks Author tool will make it easier for authors to create and publish digital textbooks and other types of books. The third new product, the iTunes U app, will help educators create digital courses. These new applications leverage the iPad’s tablet technology and help position the iPad as the next big thing in education.
Today’s textbooks are impersonal texts that present static information for students to absorb. This format has changed very little since textbooks were first introduced. The digital textbooks that Apple demoed this week are dynamic, making full use of touch-screen interactivity, animated illustrations, audio and video. They are more personal, more interesting and more fun than traditional textbooks. According to Apple, iBooks 2 have the potential to transform how students learn.
By establishing itself as a leader in digital textbooks and curriculum, Apple hopes to put itself at the forefront of school modernization. This isn’t the first time the company has been in this position. The Apple II computer was widely marketed to K-12 schools in the late 1970s, making it the first computer that many students used. It was followed by the Macintosh in the 1980s, which introduced students to the type of graphical, windows-based interface that can now be found on all personal computers.
Placing Apple and Macintosh computers in the classroom was not only good for education, it was smart marketing. Apple influenced an entire generation of students and teachers who now have enormous loyalty to the company. When Apple turned its focus to personal technology, including the iPod, iPhone and iTouch, the company had a large base of customers who had already formed an emotional connection to the Apple brand.
Apple’s support for education can be traced back to founder Steve Jobs. In Walter Isaacson’s recent biography, textbooks are mentioned as the next business that Jobs wanted to transform. The book mentions Jobs’ concern about the heavy textbook-filled backpacks that many kids lug around all day, as well as his interest in tapping into the $8 billion in annual textbook revenue. Before his death, Jobs met with some of the leading textbook publishers to discuss joint publishing ventures. It appears that iBooks 2 is Steve Jobs’ final legacy in education.
Still, many questions remain unanswered following Apple’s new product announcement: Are digital textbooks a practical alternative to traditional textbooks? Will a lower-priced version of the iPad make iBooks 2 accessible to all students? Will Apple be able to control the quality of textbooks offered in their iBookstore? The answer to these questions and others will determine the success of Apple’s latest venture into the education market.

Photo by Jonas Christian Hansen

For students learning English as a second language (ESL), listening to English conversations and narratives is one of the quickest ways to improve their fluency. Outside of the classroom, ESL podcasts provide the perfect opportunity for ESL learners to listen to simple, comprehensible English in an educational format. ESL teachers can help their students practice their listening and speaking skills outside of class by recommending such podcasts.
A podcast is similar to a radio show. Most podcasts have a host who provides commentary about content that may be educational, opinionated or humorous. Unlike a radio show that can only be listened to at a scheduled time, listeners can access a podcast on the Internet and tune in whenever they like. ESL podcasts are created specifically for English language learners. They use simple, understandable language and common English phrases. The podcast host will usually speak slower and provide explanations about English usage. ESL learners can download a podcast and listen to it on their computer or transfer it to an MP3 player. Most ESL podcast also allow listeners to subscribe and have new podcasts delivered automatically.
These are four of the most popular free ESL podcasts in the iTunes Store:
1. ESLPod.com
This website, which is sponsored by the Center for Educational Development, provides free podcasts created by two ESL professors of linguistics and education from USC. Dr. Lucy Tse creates scripts and narrates stories while Dr. Jeff McQuillan hosts the podcasts and provides explanations. The podcasts cover a wide range of practical and interesting American scenarios such as “Buying Office Furniture” or “Dining with a Foodie.” In addition to subscribing to the podcasts or accessing them via the iTunes Store, English learners can pay a small membership fee and receive a monthly Learning Guide that includes a podcast transcript, definitions, comprehension questions, additional explanations and cultural notes. The site includes many glowing testimonials from English language students who used the podcasts to improve their English comprehension and speaking ability.
2. Voice of America Special English Podcasts
Since 1959, the Voice of America (VOA) has been broadcasting special English programs that are created for listeners whose native language is not English. These half-hour programs help people learn American English in the context of stories about American culture and events. The programs are composed from short, simple sentences that use a core vocabulary of 1,500 simple words. The narrators also speak at a slower pace and avoid idioms. English learners can listen to and watch free audio and video podcasts on the VOA website or subscribe through iTunes, myYahoo or RSS feed.
3. English Pronunciation Pod
Accent reduction specialist Charles Becker, a native New Yorker, uses podcasts to help English learners improve their speaking ability and pronunciation. Each free podcast focuses on an important aspect of American pronunciation and provides explanations, tips and exercises. The podcasts can be used by English speakers of all levels who want to learn to speak with an American accent. Topics include “Using Contractions to Improve your Accent,” “Silent B” and “Syllable Stress in English.” The website also includes a 52-lesson MP3 pronunciation course that can be purchased and downloaded.
4. Listen to English – Learn English!
This podcast is hosted by Peter Carter. Episodes can be accessed free of charge in the iTunes Store or downloaded from the website, with the transcript of each podcast available on the site. The goal of the podcasts is to help English learners improve their vocabulary, pronunciation and comprehension skills. The content of the podcasts reflects British popular culture, with typical titles including “A Nice Cup of Tea,” “Off to University” and “William and Kate are Engaged.”
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If you’re interested in teaching ESL, the demand for ESL teachers in the United States is steadily increasing. For more information about the training and testing required for ESL certification, visit our page on the subject.

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Along with the many tools available for teachers online, Tumblr is an excellent way for you to connect with and learn from teachers across the country and around the world. Tumblr is a microblogging site, like Twitter, which allows users to post text, video, pictures or audio to their Tumblr page. Whether it’s pictures of cute arts and crafts projects that their students completed in their Pre-K classroom or a rumination on the trials and tribulations of teaching high school mathematics, Tumblr serves as a platform for teachers everywhere to share their experiences. Tumblr features hundreds of blogs that deal with topics like education and teaching, so to help you wade through the myriad different pages out there, here’s our list of five great Tumblrs to follow:

1. Teaching Essentials
As its title suggests, this Tumblr offers valuable resources for educators who want to grow and improve professionally. Teaching Essentials is based out of the United Kingdom and offers free high-quality teaching resources, ranging from classroom materials to popular education links. It’s full of educational videos and images that any teacher could use to improve his or her classroom.

2. Positively Persistent Teach
A good mix of text and picture posts, this Tumblr runs the gamut of topics any teacher would be interested in. From images of fun and educational classroom materials to discussions of pertinent New York Times articles on the state of American education, Positively Persistent Teach provides a great combination of social commentary and teaching insights. The Tumblr is owned and operated by a professional teacher with real life experience that shines through in her posts and commentary.

3. Teachers. Classrooms. Worldwide.
Whether you’re teaching in New York City, Berlin or Shanghai, you can easily become engrossed in the world of your classroom, forgetting that teaching and education are worldwide considerations that receive close attention. The decisions and advancements made in the world of education affect us all no matter where we teach. This Tumblr focuses on the trends and developments in education throughout the world, and should serve to remind all teachers that they belong to a global network of classroom educators.

4. Education Policy
This Tumblr compiles links and posts that deal with education policy and other topics of interest to educators and educational professionals of all types. This is an excellent blog to follow if you want to remain up-to-date about the developments in education, whether that be in policy or research. With a constant flow of links to popular teacher-centric articles like “What Teachers Want to Know: When Will Testing Company Employees Get Laid Off?”, this Tumblr is a must-follow.

5. Revolutionize Education
This Tumblr is perfect for educators looking to harness the power of Web 2.0 in their classrooms and throughout their professional lives. With social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook quickly becoming major factors in the world of pedagogy, this blog highlights how and in what ways education stands to change in a world increasingly dominated by social media. Revolutionize Education also provides links to articles and other blogs that deal with happenings in educational policy, classroom techniques and other subjects of interest to teachers.

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