Remarks, like PDF Expert, offers PDF annotation and filling tools, but it’s a much more streamlined tool than that app, with a focus on making it easy to mark up and share documents, as well as create your own notes and notebooks independent of any pre-existing PDFs that can also be marked up and shared with other Remarks users for collaborative work.

Remarks is that rare beast among PDF tools, either on or off the iPad: it features a simple, straightforward interface and everything work very quickly, with speedy response times for turning pages, adding notes, and basically anything else you’d want to do. Tools, including pens, highlighters, preset shapes and text entry, are clearly labeled with simple icons, and there’s no visual clutter or wealth of unnecessary options to distract you from what you actually need to get done.

Sharing may be one of Remarks’ best feature. Using email, you can easily share documents with other Remarks users, including annotated PDFs and notes created in the app itself. But in an upcoming update, Readdle is planning to introduce Dropbox, Box.net and other cloud storage sharing options, too, making it even more convenient for doing collaborative work.

Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard or stylus, Remarks is even more useful. It features effective accidental touch or wrist-detection, meaning you can write naturally with a stylus without worrying about drawing in the wrong place, and regular Mac key shortcuts like Command+C, Command+V and Command+A work with keyboard text input.

Remarks allows flexibility in creating notes and notebooks, allowing you to rearrange pages as you add them or after the fact, but it doesn’t overwhelm with options like other iPad notebook offerings. And since it’s also a full-fledged PDF annotation tool, and one that can be used collaboratively, it’s probably one of the most versatile iPad apps for students, and a fairly inexpensive one at $4.99.

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I talked with McGraw-Hill Education SVP of Strategic Services Vineet Madan on Friday about the company’s own vision for the future of iBooks and interactive course material in general, as well as how it makes sense for the company to have seemingly competing investments in iBooks competitors like Inkling and CourseSmart. Madan also made it clear the company has concerns about maintaining consistently high-quality textbooks that are published with iBooks Author. Here are some of the most interesting points from our conversation.

McGraw-Hill saw the iPad early on but chose not to partner with Apple on iPad textbooks right away

It turns out the publisher wasn’t too keen on the original version of iBooks, according to Madan.

“We’ve been talking with them since iBooks first came out. We said iBooks was insufficient in its form — prior to yesterday — for delivering education content…. It wasn’t a suitable delivery medium for that content. We talked to Apple about what we thought was necessary and ended up working with them to bring that to fruition.”

Instead, back in 2010, McGraw-Hill took a minority stake in Inkling, which has been making interactive textbooks for the iPad for two years, primarily for the higher education and non-education market. They’re also investors in higher-ed focused CourseSmart, whose chilly response to Apple’s entry in the market I wrote about yesterday.

iBooks 2 is only a “first half-step” to the future of e-textbooks

Using interactive material to get students engaged is great. But McGraw-Hill sees a future where students not only learn using digital books but can also can be tested and have the material tailored for particular needs.

“The next step is can you start tracking information about how students are learning and what they’re learning. You need rigorous tested assessments, something the current version of iBooks doesn’t yet support. But you need strong assessment in there and you need to link the data with how students are navigating content to provide tailored instructional paths.”

They don’t lose money charging $15 for a digital textbook instead of $75 for a physical book 

Madan explained the math to me: The high school textbooks they publish sell for between $65 and $85, or an average of $75 each. Each book is used for five years on average, which is $15 per use, per year, or the same as what Apple is setting the price for textbooks in the iBookstore.

But wait; it actually gets better for the big-time publishers: “We are then out of the business of printing books, shipping books, being responsible for warehousing when this scales,” said Madan. That can lead to new investment in more interactive and enriched content.

Even McGraw-Hill execs wonder where school districts will get the money for iPads

In the higher education market in the U.S., mostly everyone has the right hardware and has enough bandwidth. But the story is different in primary and secondary education.

“But in K-12, the big open question that went unanswered yesterday is school districts and their funding environment. They can pay $15 a book, but that’s if they choose to spend $500 to $800 to buy iPads first.”

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Most students and educators who’ve been in school in the past 10 years have probably run across Blackboard, or some similar system for managing courses online in an interactive digital environment. Generally speaking, those systems are lacking in a lot of ways: navigating them can be difficult for new users; the same content can easily be filed in multiple places, leading to confusion; they usually aren’t engaging or attractive in terms of visual design.

Apple’s iTunes U addresses all those problems. It uses a UI that mimics the real world, which some people say is the wrong approach, but should help students and education professionals who grew up using traditional tools transition to digital methods. iTunes U also organizes things organically and according to common-sense logic, which should provide a greater uniformity of experience regardless of who’s putting together the course package. Finally, like all Apple products, it invites touch and interaction. There’s actually something satisfying about tapping off tasks and assignments listed in each course package.

The courses in iTunes U work on a subscription model, so you’re automatically kept up-to-date as a course proceeds. The course catalog makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, with specific sections for post-secondary education, programs from outside universities and colleges, and K-12-targeted material. Like Apple’s other digital marketplaces, it also provides highlighted courses chosen by Apple’s team, as well top charts and categories.

From the perspective of someone who’s designed a course syllabus and planned a class of study, this definitely seems like a great tool for educators. You can lay out exactly the course of action students need to take, complete with videos, slides and assignments listed as items in a list, where you can access them directly. It not only makes it easier for students to follow an instructor’s thinking, but should also help instructors better plan, organize and imrpove their courses.

If there’s one major downside to the iTunes U app, it’s that it’s most definitely exclusionary; students need an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone to take full advantage. Obviously, that’s Apple’s goal: to attract more users by providing appealing software experiences, and I definitely think it’ll succeed based on what I’ve seen so far.

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Apple has updated the iBooks app, now called iBooks 2, and with that comes a whole new category on the iBookstore for textbooks with material from the big publishers like McGraw-Hill and Pearson, as well as other authors who want to sell their textbooks and learning tools there. And the really killer part of this is the easy publishing tool, iBooks Author, which is free and replicates an iWork experience, like building a presentation in Keynote, into a click-and-drag method of building a textbook. It’s not just for compiling material from scratch though; it’s very clearly tailored for already published material to be imported and easily formatted as an iBook.

But what you make with the authoring tool isn’t really a textbook. It’s an interactive learning experience. You have text, of course, but you can drag in image galleries, embed videos, 3D models, presentations and slideshows. You can touch and swipe and watch instead of just reading and taking notes. (If I was in high school today, I might actually find chemistry class as interesting as history with these very tangible, engaging tools.)

When students are interacting with these books, they can also touch to highlight, look up information, search, take notes in the margins and compile instant flashcards for studying. You can do all that with a physical book, but not with a couple of touches and swipes.

Matt MacInnis, CEO of Inkling, which makes similar digital interactive textbooks, but for the higher education market, says this is the reason his company doesn’t call them textbooks. They use the term “smartbooks.”

The traditional textbook “is going to have to go away,” he said in an interview last week. “The future of publishing is learning software and analytics and feedback and rich technology.”

For a generation of students that grew up using the web and social networks and is addicted to a constant stream of information, the interactive part is what makes learning something that grabs students’ attention. The feedback part is also really important. Apple hits that note with its study guides and review sections at the end of iBooks chapters.  Along with the standard questions, there comes the instant feedback of answers, so the learning process is immediate.

Joining a crowded field

Apple is certainly not the only company working on interactive textbooks or a digital education platform. Kno is one of the largest providers of textbooks for the iPad. Chegg just introduced a really nice e-book reader for a variety of platforms, and Inkling has been making interactive textbooks (and cookbooks) like this for a while — but has a number of books that’s only in the triple digits. What Apple is offering is a platform that lets anyone make these interactive books. There are already 20,000 textbooks on the iBookstore. Adding tools and important partners is guaranteed to increase that number.

So despite not being first, Apple is a force to be reckoned with in whatever industry it directs its focus on. And in this case, I think what they want, rather than disrupt the whole industry a la music and video content, is to be an assistant. The authoring tool, the distribution platform, can help drag the biggest players of a very old-school industry into the present (and hopefully, future).

And more importantly, what Apple is offering is a way to change the conversation about textbooks and bring that dialogue into the mainstream. We don’t know a lot of things yet: how many school districts can afford hundreds or thousands of iPads or how the textbook publishing industry at large will react. But we do know one thing: textbooks don’t have to be physical, expensive, static or boring.

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Courses will appear on a bookshelf, as in iBooks, but teachers can add much more to courses, including a syllabus, office hours, topics of classes, notes and posted assignments. Students can click through assignments to automatically view the requisite chapter in an e-book, if it’s available in the iTunes library.

Videos can be streamed or downloaded directly to the iPad for later viewing, and courses can also contain audio, video, documents like PDFs, and even apps. Students can rate courses in the iTunes U store, just like they would books or software. Combined with custom-authored e-books created in iBooks Author, this looks like the ultimate tool for the truly hands-on professor. And unlike the initial iBooks textbooks, it’s specifically aimed at higher education.

Grades K-12 aren’t left out, however. Cue also revealed iTunes U will now be available for primary and secondary educators and students, as well. The service is available in 123 countries. The iTunes U app is available today in the App Store, for free, and is designed to work on both the iPad and iPhone.

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A page from "Alice for the iPad" by Atomic Antelope

Since before Apple announced its education-oriented press event taking place this week, there’s been some speculation — including here — that a logical step would be to start selling digital textbooks directly through its iBookstore. It would make sense because Apple needs a way to juice iBook sales, it has a fantastic e-textbook reader in the iPad and because, well, what else would you announce at a small “education” event in New York City, the center of publishing?

It turns out, it might not be that complicated.

To begin with, if it were about books, it’s a little odd that many in the publishing business don’t know anything about what Apple’s about to announce. What if what the company reveals on Thursday is more consumer-oriented with an educational edge to it? It could be a publishing platform for building and making interactive kids books, with an emphasis on simple creation tools; something easy to use and geared toward helping people build their own digital storytelling projects. It could be like a publishing version of iMovie, iPhoto or GarageBand, a set of tools that enables anyone to put together and self-publish interactive books? That’s something that parents, teachers or independent content creators could use, and could certainly be considered “education.”

The word “book,” by the way, is hard not to use in this context, but it’s not very accurate. As Inkling CEO Matt MacInnis told me last week when talking about the future of digital textbooks, “textbook” is wrong when what were are really talking about are digital learning tools, instead of paper pages. “That’s going to have to go away,” he said. “The future of publishing is learning software and analytics and feedback and rich technology.”

Interactive books with feedback and rich content on the iPad aren’t only for kids, of course; here’s a list of some with good grown-up oriented content. Plenty of companies have already been using the iPad as a platform to publish interactive kids’ books. A search on the iTunes Store will pop up everything from digital-only publishers like Atomic Antelope that build beautiful children’s stories for the iPad, to TouchyBooks and several interactive book versions of Disney movies. But we have heard Apple’s announcement is geared toward the younger end of the K-12 set, and this could fit with that idea. It also wouldn’t be a huge surprise if people took a new set of tools for building visual stories with rich content and ran with it and it eventually became much more popular outside of content aimed at younger kids and students.

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There’s a lot of opportunity in digital textbooks, a space that’s rapidly heating up. Here is a collection of figures rounded up by the New York Times  last fall that paint a good picture (emphasis ours):

According to the Student Monitor, a private student market research company based in New Jersey, about 5 percent of all textbooks acquired in the autumn in the United States were digital textbooks. That is more than double the 2.1 percent of the spring semester.

Simba Information, a research company specializing in publishing, estimates that electronic textbooks will generate $267.3 million this year in sales in the United States. That is a rise of 44.3 percent over last year. The American Association of Publishers estimates that the college textbooks industry generated a total of $4.58 billion in sales last year.

So it’s not necessarily a huge mystery why Jobs and Apple would want to be a part of a digital textbook and learning revolution, especially since it has a great tool for reading textbooks in the iPad. There are already 40 million of these sold, with another burst of sales expected this year when the next-generation iPad is revealed. But there are also plenty of companies that already do this. It’s not as if Apple would be filling an entirely gaping void here if it were to launch a textbook store or publishing platform. Here are some of the companies who are already making textbooks available on iOS devices:

• Inkling. Inkling is a two-year-old San Francisco startup that debuted the latest version of its iPad textbook app in August (see our video here), which combines not just reading school texts, but cool social and interactive ways to study with others via the app and in-app links to external, authoritative sources. Inkling, notably, has taken investment from leading book publisher McGraw-Hill and education services provider Pearson. Inkling has 110 titles so far, mostly geared at college students, with some texts for high school and non-school titles as well.

• Kno. Kno started out as its own e-reader for textbooks, but the company quickly moved to a software-only approach. Now the company has 150,000 textbooks from 45 publishers available. Their textbooks are viewable on Apple devices via the Textbooks by Kno on the iPad. Kno also has extra services beyond just reading, like its feature that generates flashcards for studying saving you the hassle of writing out the cards yourself. Last fall, the company was the top-downloaded educational app in Apple’s App Store.

• CourseSmart. The company was founded by a group of higher education textbook publishers to offer digital titles. It currently has 20,000 college textbook titles and has had an iOS app for reading them for over a year.

• Vitalsource. Ingram Content Group — the umbrella company for several textbook publishers — also has its own app, with 60,000 80,000 digital textbook titles available for download to any iOS device.

The iBookstore hasn’t been the smashing success that its other digital stores have been, like the App Store or iTunes, but textbooks would be a way to drive sales and interest in the platform. That said, what happens to these companies that are using Apple’s platform already for digital texts?

Kno CEO Osman Rashid says the company is secure in its position as one of the top providers of digital textbooks on Apple’s platform. “The robustness of the catalogue is what wins,” he said. Kno is working to differentiate itself by also providing ways for students to personalize their learning, as with the flashcard feature. Matt MacInnis, CEO of Inkling, didn’t seem threatened by what Apple might announce either.

“Apple has always done cool stuff in education, and this will be a continuation of that tradition,” MacInnis said in an interview. He says that based on Jobs being very public about his concern for K-12 textbooks, he added, “I’m sure they’ll do some interesting content-related things for the iPad and for K-12.” But “textbooks,” he says, is the wrong word to describe where this entire industry (and possibly Apple) is going. It’s too old-fashioned for what digital learning tools are going to become. “That’s going to have to go away. The future of publishing is learning software and analytics and feedback and rich technology.”

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Resetting the iPhone

Whenever you hand over an iPhone to someone else, it’s always a good idea to remove all data from the device and reset it back to its original state. There are two ways to reset your iPhone. The first is to restore your iPhone through iTunes. I’ve found that resetting the iPhone from the General Settings menu on the device itself is much faster, and cleaner. But before you perform this operation, be absolutely sure that you have synced and backed up your device one last time to ensure that you have everything from your iPhone that you want to keep. Once you’ve done that, here’s how to erase the iPhone’s content:

1. Launch the Settings app on the iPhone.
2. From General, select Reset (its at the bottom of the list).
3. Click on Erase All Content and Settings.
4. Click on Erase iPhone and confirm.

This will return the iPhone back to its initial state. At this point you’ll need to activate your iPhone again by connecting it to iTunes (once iOS 5 arrives, you can skip this step). Be sure not to restore the iPhone when you connect it to iTunes again for the first time. Once activated, your iPhone will be initialized for use by its new user.

Which Apple ID to sync with iTunes

You can most certainly use one iTunes account on all of your iOS devices if you like. This will allow you to install all of the games and apps you’ve already purchased onto your child’s device without having to re-purchase them. Then you can set up a separate mail account on the device specifically for your child. You may want to consider setting up a specific MobileMe account to for the device so you can find the iPhone, should they lose it. They probably will lose it, after all.

Control App Store spending

Keeping tabs on the in-app purchase habits of your kids on an iOS device can be challenging if you don’t know how.  There are several different ways one can manage their family’s iTunes spending, like creating a an iTunes account without a credit card or establishing iTunes allowances through Apple’s gift card program. The most effective way is by controlling things directly on the device.  By enabling Restrictions, you can stop rampant spending before it starts.

1. In your device’s Settings app, go to General > Restrictions.
2. Tap “Enable Restrictions” and enter a passcode. Write it down somewhere so you won’t forget.
3. Disable the options you’re concerned about and adjust the content settings to your needs (e.g. turn off “iTunes,” “Installing Apps” and “In-App Purchases”).

Get a rugged case

For younger kids, I would recommend getting a protective case like the OtterBox Defender ($49.99) or the OtterBox Impact ($19.99). Don’t expect them to be bullet proof, but OtterBox has a good reputation and does offer a high level of protection. A good alternative to the OtterBox is Ballistic’s Hard Core ($29.99) case.

Stock it with fun apps

The iPod touch is the new Gameboy, plus a whole lot more. I’ve found that loading up the iPhone with a ton of games and educational titles will provide your kids hours of discovery. Plan on adding apps every so often to keep things interesting. Consider create a specialized folder of “New” apps so your kids can immediately check out your latest addition, or a “Favorites” for perennially popular titles.

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iTunes U collects content from more than 1,000 universities, providing access to class video, lectures and notes, so that students and non-students alike can follow along with courses and learn about various subjects for free from the comfort of their homes or on their Apple mobile devices. The Loop notes that some universities have an outsized share of those downloads, including Oxford, Yale, MIT and Stanford, to name a few.

The recent increase of download volume probably owes a lot to the increased adoption of iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone 4. Mobile devices account for 30 percent of iTunes U traffic, and that’s just counting direct browsing through the mobile iTunes Store. I’d be willing to bet that the number of people who download iTunes U content from their desktop and then sync it over to mobile devices for later viewing or listening is even greater. The iPad is making great strides in education, and seems like an almost ideal delivery vehicle for the kind of content coming from iTunes U, which includes slide decks and lecture notes as well as audio and video.

Another advantage of iTunes U is that it divorces learning from the physical classroom, and breaks down the barriers of geography to high-quality educational content. Apple has brought iTunes U to 123 countries, and 60 percent of its users come from outside the U.S. In an increasingly global economy, access to education is incredibly important, and iTunes U offers one of the easiest ways for students everywhere to get that access quickly and cheaply.

Geoffrey recently wrote about some of the great content available on iTunes U, and how it’s one of iTunes’ most under-appreciated gems. Looks like users are starting to wake up to the wealth of resources available there, and I doubt that will slow down as more iOS devices grant access to more global users.

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1. Know the computer’s serial number

Apple products are hot on college campuses, and can easily get stolen. Once stolen, it’s hard to retrieve your serial number after the fact, and it’s one of the first things a police officer will ask about. To obtain this information, go to the Apple () menu in the upper left hand corner, choose “About This Mac” and then click twice on the OS Version and the serial number will appear. Both student and parent should keep a copy of this information.

2. Know the computer’s warranty expiration and make sure Apple’s info is correct

Most Apple products have a one year warranty, extended to three years by AppleCare. Generally if you purchase both the computer and AppleCare at the same time directly from Apple, your AppleCare will be registered. It’s important to know if it was registered properly and the expiration date is correct before a problem develops. Go to http://support.apple.com and then click “Check Your Service & Support Coverage” in order to find out when the warranty expires. If this information is incorrect, contact Apple to get it corrected. Typically you need to fax them the receipt if there’s a discrepancy.

3. Get AppleCare if you don’t already have it

AppleCare is really a great value, especially for college students. Not only does it cover hardware failures, but it also gives you three years of phone support. That support will come in handy when a paper is due and you can’t figure out how to get iWork to play ball.

If you didn’t purchase AppleCare when you purchased your Mac, you can purchase it at anytime during the initial one-year warranty period. AppleCare is highly discounted in the educational market, either directly from Apple or from campus bookstores.

4. Insure your Mac against loss

Even if your Mac isn’t stolen, an inebriated roommate, an out-of-hand party, or plain carelessness can result in a damaged Mac. The two most common problems I see are liquid spills and laptops being dropped. Neither of these are covered by Apple’s original or extended warranty.

Most homeowners or renter’s insurance companies will allow you to specifically “schedule” a student’s computer while at the dorm. Typically this costs just a few dollars a year and results in a lower deductible and protection against more perils. Before you have problems is the time to talk with your insurance agent about it.

5. Bring a pound of uncooked rice

No this isn’t for an emergency late night dinner; that’s what ramen is for. Liquid spills are common in college environments, and the best known remedy for that is a bag of uncooked rice. Not instant rice, but the inexpensive uncooked plain white rice. Should a spill occur, immediately cut power to the computer and remove the battery. If the battery can’t be removed, shut it down. Put the device in a sealed container (typically a trash bag) with that uncooked bag of rice and wait 48 hours before trying to turn it on. The device may be okay after that. Though I shouldn’t have to say it, it is advisable to throw away the rice when you’re through.

6. Time Machine is required, but is just a first step

College is a significant investment, and a late or missed assignment can be the difference between passing a class and failing. Time Machine is a quick and effective primary backup system that comes with every Mac running Leopard or above, and enabling it will help you prevent delays due to data corruption.

However it really isn’t enough — again, college have a way of attracting “accidents.” If the Time Machine drive is sitting next to the computer, it could get damaged or go missing along with the computer. Students who use portable computers may go days at a time without connecting to their Time Machine drives, too. For the average going rate of $50 a year, I highly recommend that you buy an online and offsite backup solution. Read my recent articles for recommendations.

7. Know where to take your Mac when problems arise

In those years at college, a computer problem is likely to develop that may or may not be covered by Apple’s warranty. Before a problem occurs, it’s good to know who to call for Mac help. The obvious choice might be a local Apple retail store, but that might be far away, and in college, time is of the essence. Many campuses have college bookstores that also provide Apple warranty service, but you need to ask first. Additionally, you can use Apple’s Authorized Service Provider locator to find the closest repair center. If you have a choice between more than one, it’s a good idea to get to know them. Just ask a few questions and find out their procedures and turn around time.

8. Bring all recovery media that came with the Mac (if applicable)

Although Lion has recovery over the Internet, older Macs still need those DVDs or flash drives in order to reinstall or repair the operating system. These are typically in the box that came with the Mac and are often overlooked. When you call for support, the friendly Apple support technician will be expecting these to be close at hand. This can avoid a trip to a service provider if the problem can be diagnosed or repaired with a restore or reinstall.

9. Turn off automatic software updates

Although it’s rare, a software update can introduce new problems to a system. A recent example are numerous problems that came with 10.6.8 — enough that Apple introduced 10.6.8 v1.1. Apple eventually fixes problems with later software updates, but running software update right before a paper is due is a bad idea. Better to plan updates right before a visit home or scheduled downtime. Be sure if you don’t already know your Administrator password, you find it out now. You’ll need that for troubleshooting and updates.

10. Have a spare power adapter

This tip is for laptop users. Inevitably in the hustle and bustle of going about your studies, a power adapter is going to be left in class, at home, or at the coffee shop. A nice $1,000 + laptop can be rendered completely useless by the lack of a simple power adapter. Having a spare one can give you time to get a new one or retrieve your old one. I generally recommend keeping one at your residence, plugged in, and one in your laptop bag. If you lose the laptop bag, you can always retrieve the one from your residence.

Those are ten handy tips to make sure that you and your child never have to tell the prof “the computer ate my homework.” Got any others to add to the list?

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The budget iMac (which is available only to institutions, not school students or faculty) features a 3.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 processor, a 250 GB hard drive and just 2 GB of RAM, along with a 21.5-inch display. It also offers an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card with 256 MB of memory and only comes with Mini DisplayPort, not Thunderbolt. Apple’s entry-level consumer iMac, by comparison, has a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 6750M card with 512 MB of memory and a 500 GB hard drive, for only $150 more.

That may not seem like a great savings to some, considering the new education iMac’s considerably reduced specs, but for volume shoppers purchasing 10 or more machines for a computer lab or library, the extra savings will add up quickly. And if the computers are primarily being used for brief sessions made up of less-specialized tasks, the extra muscle in the $1,149 Mac (the standard $1,199 model, after a $50 education discount) isn’t necessary. Apple also still offers an $899 20-inch 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac which uses the previous aluminum and glass body design used on machines before the 21.5- and 27-inch models were introduced.

The introduction of the new iMac shows that Apple is still keen on attracting education customers, which is a great way of getting its product in the hands of students, one of its core demographics. Apple’s attempts to win favor with students also includes the yearly back-to-school deal and special pricing for individual educational customers, which usually knocks at least $50 off the price of any Mac. According to recent research, it’s a combined strategy that’s working very well.

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In the presser announcing the milestone, Apple is quick to point out that the program is catching on internationally as well, with lots of new content having recently been added from universities based in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore, bringing the total number of files available for download globally to 350,000.

It may not seem like much in comparison to the success of the App Store, which boasts more than 5 billion downloads, but considering how niche the education market is, and how resistant academic institutions have been to giving up a paper-based model of texts and learning, it’s quite a feat. It also helps underscore just how successful Apple has been as a player among students, a huge reason for its continued success.

If you’ve yet to try out any iTunes U content, you should take a look and see what’s available. Even if you’re not currently enrolled at a university or college, there are tons of free content you could use to educate yourself and possibly pick up a new skill set that might be useful at your current job, or in finding a new one. In Apple’s own words:

iTunes U gives anyone the chance to experience university courses, lab demonstrations, sports highlights, campus tours and special lectures. All iTunes U content is free and can be enjoyed on a Mac® or PC, or wirelessly downloaded directly onto an iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™.

Have you used iTunes U content in the past? Let us know if you’ve found it useful (as a student or otherwise) in the comments.

Related GigaOM Pro Research: How To Manage Access To Digital Content

Seton Hill is a Catholic liberal arts university, but regardless of the curriculum, a free iPad would definitely influence my choice of schools, especially given that you’ll be paying ridiculous amounts for tuition no matter where you go. Better to get something awesome in the bargain.

That’s not all you could get, either. If you’re a first-year undergraduate student just starting out, you get a 13-inch MacBook, too. It’s like some kind of Apple customer loyalty indoctrination camp. That’s an education you can’t put a price on, if you ask me.

So are iPads in the academy a good idea? I mean, Apple’s new wonder device obviously has its merits as an educational tool. Anything that makes reading seem cool and futuristic does. But what about rolled out as a comprehensive solution at a higher learning institution? Will a bunch of undergrads running around with quick and easy access to Facebook chat make them study any harder or smarter?

In a word, yes. These days every student going into college has a notebook or netbook computer, and almost no one takes notes by hand anymore. In that environment, it’s virtually impossible to find a student who isn’t already able to devote as much class time as they want to distracting pursuits like social networking sites and games. It’s not very likely that the iPad could even manage to exacerbate that problem, given how widespread it already is.

On the other hand, the iPad can do a lot of good in an educational environment, especially when it’s universally available, resulting in an even playing field. Unlike computers, the iPad is basically a single-focus device. It allows students to concentrate on one app at a time, which is perfect for those who have trouble reining in their attention on traditional computing platforms, myself included. It also provides great opportunities for truly collaborative learning experiences, depending on what kind of apps devs come up with, or on what kind of special features educational publishers include with their textbooks.

Seton Hill may be the first school to offer up free iPads for students, but I doubt very much it’ll be the last. Aside from providing a great incentive to attract new students, it also provides terrific opportunities for institutions interested in being at the forefront of advances in scholarship and education. And it gives me one more reason to consider going back for that second degree I always wanted. Too bad Seton doesn’t offer a program in marine biology.

I’m not a full-time college student, but I’ve been pursing a degree at night for the last four years (Technical Communications, so my focus on educational tools tends to revolve around writing). I’ve used Macs and iPhones as tools for the entirety of my collegiate career. When I started thinking of the possibility of using my iPad as a single-source solution — mostly to reduce weight by leaving my MacBook at home — I came up with a series of pluses and minuses I’ll personally face with the iPad. My focus here is taking notes in class first, and doing coursework second.

Although, I’m a night student, I don’t think how I use technology is different from a full-time student. I use my laptop to take notes in class, research and study in the library, and work on my homework at home. I am hoping the iPad will let me start leaving my MacBook at home for everything but the most-intensive tasks. I’m going to take a look at how I think the iPad could help me in school, or be problematic.

Pros

Better battery life/Light weight: OK, so the “10 hours of battery life” is likely wishful thinking. But so is the “up to 7 hours” on my MacBook Pro. My best time with the MBP is about four hours, so, it’s not unreasonable to think I’ll get about six to seven hours on the iPad.

The iPad can shave three pounds off a college student’s shoulders.

My biology book was over five pounds. My MacBook is four. The iPad is 1.5. When you’re carrying a ton of books around, weight starts to matter. The iPad can shave nearly three pounds off a college student’s shoulders compared to using a MacBook, not to mention the weight savings if you were able to replace most or all of your books with the iPad. Also, its size and function make it very easy to quickly throw into your bag and go — just hit the home button and toss it in your bag. The instant on is nice as well — no more waiting for your MacBook to power up to make a quick note or look something up.

“Bag of Holding” for class materials: In D&D, a bag of holding was how we got around the game’s encumbrance rules. At least one party member would have one, and it became the gigantic suitcase we’d have to sit on to close, but it fit in our pockets. Printing out an entire course-load of lecture materials, lecture supplements, lab reports, sports scores, fantasy draft rules, team standings, notes, research materials and cited sources will quickly bulge a notebook to bursting, requiring industrial-strength banding to keep closed. With an iPad, I can keep all that on a device slightly larger than a composition notebook. Plus, I can quickly adjust my fantasy roster when my starting pitcher ends up needing Tommy John surgery.

Easier to do work in the library: My college has a large, four-story spacious library, yet it seems space and power is always at a premium — no doubt due to one person taking up a large, four-person table. When I’m doing research in the stacks, being able to use the iPad in tight quarters will be a boon. Also, I won’t need to worry as much about finding a comfortable table near a power outlet. I’m never comfortable in a chair with my laptop, but I’m hoping the iPad will be a little more comfortable for use sitting down. It will also be great for reviewing class material in the hall before an exam.

No laptop stigmata: Whenever I use a laptop in class, I’m always leery of what the teacher thinks of it. While none have had a problem with it, I’ve never liked having the laptop screen be a wall between the teacher and I. The iPad will sit on the table and act much more like a traditional notebook.

Single-tasking may let me focus better: In the “I’m a bad student” category, when I’m taking notes, I’m also checking my e-mail, IMing, and following the Red Sox game during periods when the lecture fails to hold my attention. I’m hoping the iPad not being capable of multitasking might help me focus a little better. Say, anyone know how many innings Wakefield went today?

Seriously, though, one of the reasons I don’t take notes by hand is my handwriting is illegible. If I can take notes distraction-free on the iPad, I’ll be thrilled. Yeah, I know I can turn off Wi-Fi and go into full screen mode, but I don’t.

Cons

Lack of e-textbooks: Hopefully this will change, but the Kindle DX was marketed as a potential e-textbook reader, and a quick scan of the textbooks section of the Kindle store yielded slim results. I was able to find my Biology book on CourseSmart, who is claiming to be releasing an iPad version of their reader, but other than that, I came up empty. After lugging around a five-pound biology book last semester, I’d have been thrilled to have a e-textbook. Hopefully, Apple will partner with textbook publishers as part of iBooks, but if Amazon and Barnes & Noble haven’t had much traction here, I’m not betting heavily this will change soon.

No camera: While some people have bemoaned the missing camera for its video chat purposes, in the previously mentioned biology class, I found it a lot easier to take an iPhone pic of a diagram the teacher drew on the board than attempt to recreate it in my notebook. The ability to take a photo on my iPad and quickly integrate it into my notes would be fantastic.

No citation/equation support: OS X Pages does a decent job at handling citations, albeit via third-party tools. Almost all of my papers require some sort of APA citations. While I expect I can get the bulk of a paper written on the iPad, handling citations looks like it could be problematic. Granted, this isn’t a deal-breaker, it’d be easy to simply put the proper citation reference in-place — (Crump 440) — and then insert the proper citation with the source on my MacBook. However, I can see not being able to complete and submit a paper solely on the iPad. I am also admittedly spoiled by technology; I couldn’t build a bibliography by hand now if my grade depended on it. Also, I’m lucky I’m a communications major, but, if you’re in a major requiring equations during note taking, this could be a problem — hopefully, there will soon be an app for that.

Locked-down/Walled Garden: For the most part, Apple controlling the gates of the App Store hasn’t caused me much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Sure, I’d have loved a native Google Voice app, but since I need an Internet connection to use it, I’m OK with a web app. However, if there’s a specific application you need for a class, if there isn’t a similar app already in the App Store, you’re out of luck.

No full-size keyboard (speculation): One of the big unknowns for me is how the keyboard will fare in real-life usage — it might not be that bad, or doing any sort of long-form writing could be unbearable. I’m OK with using the small Apple keyboard (it’ll likely be a permanent resident in my carry bag, but I’d love to just use the iPad. Also, the lack of travel is something that bugs me about the Apple keyboard, so the iPad keyboard could be hard for me to get used to. I’m ok with the iPhone keyboard, but that’s for light typing and I’m usually using just my thumbs. I’m also leery of touch typing on it.

I’ll be getting my iPad on April 3 and my next class starts April 12. I’m looking forward to seeing how this new gadget works in school.

Let’s start with costs alone. Assume a school wants to buy an iPad for each of its students. Assume the school is small with only 300 children enrolled. Assume also that the school wants to buy the cheapest iPad without AppleCare. At a little more than $450 per iPad, that’s a cost of almost $144,000. I imagine the average state-funded school enjoys less than half that in its annual I.T. budget.

“Aha!” you might argue, “Many schools in underprivileged areas get subsidies from the state and provide laptops for their pupils.”

And, of course, you’d be right. Many schools do provide their students with free or ‘nearly-free’ laptops. But not decent laptops. We’re talking cheap, disposable netbooks that cost far less to insure against loss or damage. (Let’s be realistic – the younger the student, the greater the chance of laptop-death!)

No Competition

I graduated from High School back in the early 90s, and even then my school was considered ahead of the curve when it came to the adoption of computer technology in class. Even so, there were no Macs in my school. They were just too expensive. Here in the UK, the fierce battle in the 1980’s between Acorn, Sinclair, Atari, Amstrad and Commodore meant that there were many perfectly capable, cheap microcomputers available to schools. The Mac was superior to those machines in almost every way, but it couldn’t compete on price.

It has been 16 years since I graduated from high school. And while I’m happy to report that my old school now has iMacs in most classrooms, sadly they only run Windows XP.

The reason for this comes down to two simple factors; Cost, and What’s Best for the Kids. It seems more educational titles are available at lower prices on Windows than on Mac OS X. And, outside school, the kids encounter more Windows PCs than Macs.

So I look at the upcoming iPad and, even though I can see the potential it offers to schoolchildren (and the wider education market), I can’t help but wonder if it has any real chance of making a dent at this time. HP’s upcoming slate PC has more chance of being adopted by my old school simply because it works with all their existing software and runs Windows — the platform the school believes the pupils are better served knowing, rather than Mac OS X, which they have concluded is just too obscure and “specialist.”

And as though these fiduciary and policy-driven decisions aren’t bad enough, there’s another glaring challenge to getting the iPad widely accepted in schools; at the end of the day, it’s just not a book.

Delicate Issues

You see, tablets-as-books is a great idea until the battery dies, and then the student has no textbook and no computer. She will have to plug-in to a power outlet if she wants either of those things back. But consider the delicate health and safety issues associated with cable-safety in a classroom environment. Not to mention the maintenance costs (that’s a lot of power outlets being used more than ever before) and don’t forget the school will suddenly incur higher energy bills. Say what you will about a paper-textbook, at least it doesn’t need plugging-in.

And then there’s the issue of damage. What happens if an iPad screen is cracked? A damaged book cover doesn’t render the book’s contents inaccessible, nor is it likely to slice into fingers. Plus, the cost of a replacement book is trivial. Remind me how much the cheapest iPad is?

Oh, and let’s not forgot that Apple isn’t perfect. Remember when the iPhone OS was updated to 3.1 in September last year? I wrote about it here, and the comments quickly ran to over 100. iPhones everywhere were freezing, crashing, and generally just refusing to work, and all as a result of an official update from Apple itself!

What happens when Apple does the same thing with the iPad? Even the most diligent students who take the greatest of care with their always-charged-in-time-for-class iPads will suffer if an update from Apple proves flaky.

And, finally, there’s the matter of crime. No one ever wanted to rob a kid from my school. The only thing we ever carried in our bags was biology books and the occasional Thundercats pencil case. But what if my school handed-out iPads to its pupils? Overnight, the school uniform would become an advertisement to any would-be criminal; “mug this kid – expensive computer on-board.”

I’d dearly love to see all school kids and college students everywhere take-up iPads as their favorite learning tools. Sadly, I just don’t see how that can happen as long as they remain significantly more expensive than textbooks, more sophisticated than simple e-book readers and less resilient than the existing, proven toolset — traditional, dead-tree textbooks.

Related GigaOM Pro Research: Forecast: Tablet App Sales To Hit $8B by 2015