Comment: I think that is a good idea of "apple" to make the education school on an Ipad tab, because its very portable and usefull.
(CNN) -- Apple on Thursday lifted the veil on its plans to remake the educational landscape in a way that centers on its best-selling tablet computer, the iPad.

"Education is deep in Apple's DNA and iPad may be our most exciting education product yet," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement.

At a press conference in New York, the company announced three products that aim to get students and teachers to use the iPad's touch-screen interface to read, write, plan classes and communicate with each other.

First, a free app called iBooks Author lets anyone create a digital, interactive textbook.

In a demo at the event, an Apple employee created an e-book with the app in about five minutes, according to live blogs.

Second, an update to a piece of software called iTunes U lets teachers plan their curriculum and communicate with their students over the iPad.

The new iTunes U, which also is free and available on Thursday, will "allow anyone, anywhere, at any time to take courses for free," Schiller said, according to Fortune.com's Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who was live blogging from the event. Fortune is a partner site of CNN.com.

"If you're an educator at a university, college, or K-12 school, now you have an easy way to design and distribute complete courses featuring audio, video, books, and other content," Apple's website said Thursday. "And students and lifelong learners can experience your courses for free through a powerful new app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch."