iPads are everywhere, touching off a revolution of innovative books being published as appsbook apps that take advantage of the iPad’s multi-touch interface and multimedia capabilities. In this course, you’ll become familiar with specific book apps in different categories, and learn how these apps are pushing the boundaries of the medium. We will NOT be discussing plain text titles available on the Kindle, Nook, & other platforms. Instead we’ll focus on multimedia, interactive books that are released as individual apps, such as London: A City Through Time (available in the iTunes store for iPads). In each section of the course you’ll watch video demos of particular interactive book apps, read several interesting articles and discuss everything in the class forums. There is a total of about 8-10 hours of work, which you can do at your own pace, with perpetual access. We’ll have discussions about the future of the book as a medium. What do these changes mean for readers, libraries, authors, and publishers? What are the qualities of a delightful reading experience? How are these apps enabling learning and which features and qualities enable a the best experience for readers? A resource guide is included, with links to recommended book apps, additional readings, publishers to watch and blogs to follow.
