iBooks, Softchalk Cloud, and ePublishing

In preparation for a workshop on using iBooks Author this week in Las Vegas, I published five lessons on ePublishing created by members of the Georgia College faculty learning community to the Softchalk Cloud website at http://softchalkcloud.com/.  You do not need to be a member to access the lessons.  In the search box on the top upper part of the Softchalk Cloud window, type iBooks Author.  You should see the five lessons. 

CG, a member of the learning community edited an eBook created by students in his Maymester course.  He submitted it to the iBookstore for publication, but has not been notified that it has been reviewed.  Apple has been criticized because of the slow review process.  I had hoped that the eBook would be available for the workshop participants.  At any rate, CG uploaded it to my Dropbox.  I transferred it to the iPad last evening.  The eBooks is so awesome!! 

iBook Author Support

Apple has a great support site for iBooks Author at http://www.apple.com/support/ibooksauthor/getstarted/
I continue to research resources on iBooks Author as we prepare for a Faculty Development Workshop at Georgia College. 

Yellow Submarine iBook

This has been an interesting morning.  I downloaded The Yellow Submarine iBook. Great free book!!! The file size was too big for the iPhone but it worked on the iPad!!  It is a great example of an iBook for children (and their parents and grandparents).  Each colorful page has interactive components:

• if you touch an object it makes a sound
• little mini movies

The very end of the book includes all of the songs from the Yellow Submarine by the Beatles.  Enjoy!

Apple Education Update

The Apple Education Event was this morning at 10 AM.  MacWorld blogged the event so it was the next best thing from being there.  Apple introduced iBooks 2 and iBooks Author.  iBooks 2 is designed to create interactive searchable textbooks that can include video and animations. 

iBooks Author is a FREE app for creating the interactive books.  It is only available for the Mac and you need the Mac OS 10.7 or higher.  Of course, my Mac only has 10.6 :-(.  I will take it to work tomorrow to get the OS upgraded to get the opportunity to use the authoring software.  In my "spare" time, I want to get started on a iBook textbook on using Access for nurses. 

The focus is on K-12.  There was discussion about using the iTunes U app for courses.  For more information on the event read the article in the Washington Post.  MacWorld is a great resource to learn more.