According to the Wall Street Journal, several major textbook publishers have begun collaborating with software company ScrollMotion to adapt their textbooks to a electronic page in hope that digital devices such as the Apple iPad will transform the classroom. ScrollMotion already makes an e-book reader application for the iPhone. “This is the beginning of handheld education,” says ScrollMotion CEO John Lema.  Companies working on schoolroom-focused projects include McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt K-12, Pearson Education, and Kaplan, among others.

“People have been talking about the impact of technology on education for 25 years. It feels like it is really going to happen in 2010,” said Rik Kranenburg, group president of higher education for the education unit of McGraw-Hill Cos. and one of the publishers involved in the project.

Amazon has tried to turn the Kindle DX into an e-textbook reader, but has had limited success.  Many companies are hoping that Apple iPad will bring different results.  As the price of e-readers comes down, it’s a smart and maybe cheaper chose for college students to loss 20lbs. off their backs.

Apple, e-reader, ebook, iPad, iphone, iSlate, Kindle, publishers, ScrollMotion, textbook