The Chronic Consumer

When I heard that Apple struck a deal with a few textbook publishers and would be making high school level textbooks available for the iPad, I knew I had to buy one to try it out. There were only about 8 titles to choose from at this early stage, so I went with Algebra 1 since I want to brush up on my math skills anyway.

The description of the book from the publisher is as follows:

Algebra isn’t just numbers and equations. It’s about the world you live in. With Glencoe Algebra, you get hands-on math applications to help you succeed in whatever career path you chose. Interactive personal tutors, animations, and practice problems let you review as much or as little as you need to prepare for success in college and beyond.

Content includes:

Relationships between Quantities
Expressions, Equations, and Functions
Linear Equations

Linear Relationships
Linear Functions
Equations of Linear Functions
Linear Inequalities
Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities

Exponential and Quadratic Relationships
Exponents and Exponential Functions
Quadratic Expressions and Equations
Quadratic Functions and Equations

Advanced Functions and Equations
Radical Functions and Geometry
Rational Functions and Equations
Data Analysis
Statistics and Probability

I have only been playing around with the book for a few days, so I haven’t had a chance to go through the whole thing yet. But I do have a few initial impressions. First, the book is simply beautiful on the iPad. This is precisely what the tablet should be used for, IMO, and I think McGraw Hill did a good job making their digital book colorful, well laid out, and interesting. Second, the book covers a great deal of information. It’s a real textbook after all, so there’s a school year’s worth of stuff inside.

I also like that that the book contains the answers to selected problems. This makes it suitable for people like me who are taking the self-study approach to the subject. Without answers, the text would obviously have very limited value for us.

And finally, the book has three important features that students will find extremely useful. It’s easy to highlight passages simply by tapping the text and following the on-screen directions that appear. You can also create study cards based on your highlights or the key vocabulary words from the unit. The note cards have the vocab term on the front, and then you can flip them over to see the corresponding definition. And of course there’s a search box so you can quickly find pertinent pages for the topics you’re looking for. The search includes not only the book itself, but also the web and/or Wikipedia (if you want).

The only thing I was disappointed in is the lack of multimedia elements contained in the book. I think there could have been some more video clips (beyond the “Private Tutor”) or other truly interactive features to enhance the experience.

On the whole, I am very impressed with this textbook. At $14.99, it’s pretty expensive as far as apps go, but that’s a fraction of the cost of a real textbook. This is a terrific early effort and I just can’t wait to see what other kinds of books will follow (history, please!!!).