E-readers Benefit Students and Teachers
Students suffer under the weight of their backpacks having to lug heavy textbooks to and from school The solu tion to the weight and pain? Digital textbooks
Yet reducing pain isnt the only reason for schools to switch to digital At a summit of industry and education offi cials in January 2012 the Obama administration pushed for a faster transition to e-text books to cut spending on hard cover textbooks and better con nect with tech-savvy students
The transition will not be quick and easy Purchase of devices for each student is a big investment However the ven ture will pay itself off by reduc ing shipping stocking and textbook replacement costs Even better academic materi als with expired copyrights are often available for free down load online
Students will not only have access to all their textbooks in one place but software will offer instructional materials like selfgraded quizzes videos and in teractive models Students can access external links or crossreference class material with the touch of a finger Furthermore the devices will enhance the learning experience for visual and auditory learners
According to Federal Com munications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski Web-connected instructional material does not just benefit s tudents Teachers can more easily track their students progress through statistics pulled from every tablet in class
School officials at Clearwater High School in Pinellas County Fla told Tampa Bay Online that their transition from traditional textbooks to Kindles was a huge success About 2200 students were given a Kindle loaded with one quarter of their textbook ma terial for a pilot program Bonnie Kelley supervisor for Pinellas Countys Library Media Tech nology department believes that digitality will ultimately benefit students
Ill admit that I had my doubts about the Clearwater pilot but when I saw how en gaged these students became in learning this year I saw the difference Kelley said Its the right move because it is the future and we have to embrace it
Chairman Genachowski and Education Secretary Arne Dun can hope to re-allocate funding designated for printed books toward iPads or Kindles by 2017