Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HISTORY® Unveil New Social Studies iBooks® Textbooks for the Apple® iPad®


BOSTON -- Global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) and A&E Television Networks (AETN), the award-winning global media content company today announced the availability of two popular co-branded high school social studies iBooks textbooks for the Apple iPad. Available on the iBookstore℠, The Americans and World History: Patterns of Interaction represent the next step in the revolutionary partnership of HMH and HISTORY® which aims to bring engaging educational experiences to tech-savvy students.  While full versions will not be available for purchase until August 1, a sample chapter of The Americans is now available on the iBookstore.

“HMH has been working with Apple since the early development of this tool and we are very excited to be among the first education companies to publish such rich and unique instructional material for students,” said Bethlam Forsa, Executive Vice President, Global Product and Content Development, HMH.  “These iBooks textbooks are more than textbooks transferred to an e-reader, but rather interactive, living texts that enable further immersion in the subject.”

HMH’s iBooks textbooks maximize the opportunities for interactive multimedia, making each title an ideal choice for today’s student. Using audio, video, student interactives, and a vast library of video from HISTORY®, a division of AETN, students see U.S. history not as something to be memorized but as an ongoing narrative to be understood. Each multi-touch and visually engaging iBooks textbook offers rich, magazine-style design plus embedded interactive features to maximize learning engagement and higher-order thinking skills.  Special features include:

  • HISTORY® videos that provide in-depth engagement
  • Audio clips of section summaries
  • Photo galleries to illustrate the content
  • Engaging, interactive features such as 3D graphics and animated maps
  • Section quizzes
Specific iBooks textbook functionality includes:

  • Highlight Text—allows students to highlight what’s personally important to them
  • Notes—allows students to add point-of-use notes and create study cards
  • Note Search—allows students to refer to previous notes while studying
  • Bookmark—allows students to flag content for quick referral
  • Search—allows students to easily find content of interest throughout the iBook
In January 2012, Apple announced iBooks 2 for iPad, a new platform offering full-screen, interactive digital textbooks.  HMH was one of the first major partners with Apple on this endeavor.  This initiative is the next step in HMH’s quest to provide its award-winning content on an array of digital devices.  The iBooks textbook versions of The Americans and World History follow an already impressive suite of mobile apps and eTextbooks that transform learning by providing students with new, engaging ways to interact with subject matter.

For more information please visit http://www.apple.com/education/ibooks-textbooks/publishers.html


About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global learning company with the mission of changing lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. Among the world’s largest providers of pre-K–12 education solutions and one of its longest-established publishing houses, HMH combines cutting-edge research, editorial excellence and technological innovation to improve teaching and learning environments and solve complex literacy and education challenges. HMH’s interactive, results-driven education solutions are utilized by 60 million students in 120 countries, and its renowned and awarded novels, non-fiction, children's books and reference works are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

About AETN
A&E Television Networks, LLC (AETN) is an award-winning, global media content company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from television networks to websites, to home videos/DVDs to gaming and educational software. AETN is comprised of A&E Network®, Lifetime, History™, Lifetime Movie Network, Bio™, History International™, History en español™, Crime & Investigation Network™, Military History™, Lifetime Real Women, A&E IndieFilms®, AETN International, AETN Digital, and AETN Consumer Products. AETN channels and branded programming reach more than 250 million households in over 150 countries. AETN is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation, and NBC Universal.

HISTORY® and related logos are the property of A&E Television Networks (AETN).

iPad, and iBooks are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iBookstore is a service mark of Apple Inc.