Apple Education Announcement: A short series

The digital divide is a growing issue and point of controversy in public education. Apple's iPad is an example of that divide: a $600-$800 piece of equipment that is not a computer, not a phone, not a TV. Let's admit it, the iPad is a really cool, expensive, toy. There are some incredible educational implications for the iPad but it remains a supplemental tool. 

The digital divide is all about money and access. If the digital version of the textbook is not demonstrably better than the print version, why spend the extra money? Let's do a quick math problem with the Geometry and Biology textbooks iBooks and McGraw-Hill are offering by following Texas' adoption schedule.

Texas adopted mathematics textbooks (grades 6-12) in 2006 and is scheduled to adopt again in 2015. Science textbooks were adopted in 2011 and are not scheduled to adopt again until 2020. That's a nine year cycle. We can assume that the state gets books and other equipment at a discounted rate but I do not have access to vendor lists so I am going to use MSRP for everything. Here are the numbers for a 30 student class, assuming a 10% loss (a need to replace hardware or books) each year for nine years.

Geometry Student Edition 2012 CCSS
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
iPad (16GB, Wifi only)	$499.00	Student textbook	$133.08 (amazon)
Digital textbook	$14.99
30 students, year 1	$15,419.70	30 students, year 1	$3992.40
30 students, years 2-9	$15,573.60	30 students, years 2-9	$3193.92
TOTAL:	$30,993.30	TOTAL:	$7186.32

Glencoe Biology
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
iPad (16GB, Wifi only)	$0.00 (already purchased)	Student textbook	$111.96 (amazon)
Digital textbook	$14.99
30 students, year 1	$449.70	30 students, year 1	$3358.80
30 students, years 2-9	$3597.60	30 students, years 2-9	$2687.04
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$6045.84
Total for both classes:	$35,040.60	Total for both classes:	$13,232.16

My point is simply this: Are the e-textbooks offered by Apple, McGraw-Hill, and now Pearson, two or three times better than the same print textbooks? If they are not, will schools able to pay for the novelty of the iPad do so? Schools not able to pay for the novelty will, effectively be blocking access to this new technology. The digital divide widens and deepens, and the students left behind, in most cases, don't even know what they're missing. School districts can do what they want, that is the beauty of local control but, I do not believe the e-textbooks offered thus far for the iPad are worth the extra cost. A topic I will discuss in my next post.

Just for the sake of argument, what’s the break-even point? If it is reasonable, even schools that need to stretch may do so. While the price of print books is usually $100 or more, the price of the e-textbooks will never exceed $15 per book. 

By averaging the costs of the textbooks, the break-even point is 18 (my work is below). A school would have to purchase 18 textbooks from Apple for each student over the course of a nine year adoption in order to equal the cost of print textbooks. A high school student will use 18 textbooks over the course of their high school career but is this a realistic expectation? I can't answer that. I will say, in the school I worked in, we had such a difficult time getting textbooks back at the end of the year that we stopped allowing them to be taken home. I believe I am being generous with a 10% loss rate for something as tantalizing as an iPad. 

Does using supplemental technology in the classroom (meaning not every student in the state or district will have access to it) widen the digital divide?

Geometry Student Edition 2012 CCSS
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
iPad (16GB, Wifi only)	$499.00	Student textbook	$133.08 (amazon)
TOTAL (for 9 years):	$30,993.30*	TOTAL (for 9 years):	$7186.32
McGraw-Hill (Glencoe) Biology
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$111.96 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$6045.84
Pearson (Prentice Hall) Mathematics: ALGEBRA 1: 2011 Common Core
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$76.68 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$4140.72
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 2011 (National Edition)
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$89.56 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$4836.24
Glencoe, McGraw-Hill Algebra 1, Student Edition CCSS
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$89.94 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$4856.76
Pearson Miller & Levine Biology (National Edition)
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$108.99 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$5885.46
(McGraw-Hill) Glencoe Chemistry: Matter and Change
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$104.16 (amazon)
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$5624.64
Glencoe (McGraw-Hill) Physics: Principles and Problems
Digital (iPad) version		Print version
Digital textbook	$14.99	Student textbook	$107.00
TOTAL:	$4047.30	TOTAL:	$5778.00
GRAND TOTAL	$59,324.40	GRAND TOTAL	$44,353.98

*Price includes iPads

Apple Education Announcement Series:
- iBooks Author: A game changer?
- E-textbooks and the adoption cycle
- The digital divide: the true cost 
- Technical shortcomings