Steve Jobs didn't think that teachnology alone could fix what troubles American education, It's worth remembering that in the wake of last week's breathless coverage of Apple's new iBooks platform, which the company promises will completely change how students use and experience tetbooks. Under Apple's plan, companies and individuals will be able to self-publish textbooks, ideally creating a wider range of content. Students will be able to download and use these books on an iPad much like they would use a regular textbook - including highlighting passages, making notes and pulling out passages or chapters that are especially important to them. Apple says it also plans to cap the price of textbooks available through iBooks at $14.99, a significant departure from the price of many textbooks now.
Critics wre quick to criticize Apple for not being revolutionary enough. Former schoolmaster and current ed-tech（教育技术） investor Tom Vander Ark blamed Apple for not thinking past textbooks, which he considers hopelessly 20th century. Others worried that Apple's real goal wasn't to open up the textbook industry but to control it and profit from it through restrictive licensing agreements and a platfrom that dominates the market. I'm sure the for-profit company's shareholders will be horrified at that news.
Let's slow down. Textbooks or tools that look a lot like textbooks aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And since high-quality educational material isn't cheap to generate, simply tearing down distribution barriers will only go so far in reducing the costs of producing good content. Lost in the heated claims, however, is a more fundamental question: What have educational technology efforts accomplished to date and what should we expect?