Yesterday, January 19, 2012, Apple made some exciting announcements about education and the iPad. Included in this announcement is the availability of interactive Textbooks for the iPad. This could revolutionize education in the classroom by increasing student engagement, and opening a new way for students to interact with subject matter.

To learn more about this amazing new offering, watch this video from Apple.

So how does this impact Front Range Christian School? 

First, all students should upgrade to iBooks 2 on their iPads. If you are interested in experiencing one of the textbooks for free, the Life on Earth textbook shown in the video above is available for free in the iBooks 2 store. Please note that we have not reviewed this textbook fully, so we cannot say whether or not its content fits the standards of FRCS, but it will give you an idea of how these new textbooks work and what they will be like.

Second, we have teachers who are purchasing the textbooks this weekend to review them for use in classes for the remainder of the second semester. As new textbooks are released, our teachers and administration will review them to see if they fit our standards and begin to work them into our curriculum.

Third, we are exploring the option of some of our teachers and administration creating and writing supplemental texts for use in our curriculum. These discussions are still in the early stages, but we are excited about the possibilities for our students and staff.

These are exciting times for Front Range Christian School students...we are excited that God led us to move forward with the iPad initiative and poised us to be ready to take advantage of this innovative development.