Inkling Announces Launch of Its Digital Textbook Platform

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Now this is a good idea. Textbooks are ridiculous in price already, and it seems that you really never use them in school do you? It also seems that almost every year a new one comes out so used textbooks are kind of pointless aren’t they?  Now though with a digital textbook things can be easily updated, and they won’t be tossed the garbage killing trees.. This is just an app for the iPad which I guess can be a good thing, for Apple anyway, meaning more iPads will be sold to college kids already living on a tight budget… oh well..

"Inkling uses multitouch interactivity to create engaging learning experiences," said Matt MacInnis, Founder and CEO of Inkling. "Rather than replicating a book on a screen, Inkling puts 3-D objects, video, quizzes, and even social interaction right at a student’s fingertips inside the textbook."

Inkling’s sync technology lets students collaborate in real time by sharing their notes and highlights with one another. Students can see comments from their friends and professors right alongside their own notes, making it easy to collaborate side-by-side or across campus.

 

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Additionally, Inkling offers:

  • Integrated interactive media in every title, such as movies, 3-D objects, and guided tours
  • A simple and powerful user interface that makes it easy to skim readings or jump from place to place in the title, while always keeping track of your progress
  • Interactive formative assessment that helps students immediately gauge their level of understanding
  • An intuitive search engine that predicts your search as you type

"Inkling’s intuitive search features alone make it hard to go back to a traditional textbook," said MacInnis.

Inkling announced content development partnerships with major publishers, including Cengage Learning, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, and Wolters Kluwer. The partnerships are centered around joint development of interactive content.

"McGraw-Hill is focused on identifying and driving new ways to promote learner engagement and academic success, and Inkling allows us to offer more engaging, social learning experiences," said Vineet Madan, Vice President, Learning Ecosystems, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. "We’re excited to be the first publisher to offer content through Inkling."

Inkling also announced pilot programs at Abilene Christian University, Seton Hill University, the University of Alabama, and with the Virginia Department of Education.

For more information about Inkling and to download the app, visit www.inkling.com.