The computer is a common resource. Teachers and students regularly use technology for educational purposes. This week’s article looks at the role of textbooks in schools and how textbooks are changing. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
How do you think that the use of textbooks will change in the future? How successful do you think the California initiative will be? What problems do you see that might keep it from being successful? One school superintendent in the article predicts that “In five years, I think the majority of students will be using digital textbooks.” What is your prediction? How should schools address the digital divide issue that is mentioned in the article?
23 comments:
I think that the use of textbooks will change in the future by giving students and teachers an easy way to give and learn lessons in a wide range of subjects. Also with that, teachers will have the chance to find more innovative ways to teach their students, for example with short videos, games, PowerPoint’s etc. California’s initiative can be successful since the state needs to save more money by having replace math and science texts with free digital versions. Also it can be successful because of us being in the “new age” we know more about the Internet. We spend a lot of our time on the Internet so why not learn also? The problems that would keep it from becoming successful is the line that divides the rich and poor. In the article it said, “ Not every student has access to a computer, a kindle electronic reader device or a smartphone and, few districts are wealthy enough to provide them. So digital textbooks could widen the gap between the rich and poor” I think that California would struggle mainly with the issue that not everyone would have the privilege to use the digital versions of math and science texts. In the article, William M. Habermehl said, “ In five years, I think that the majority of students will be using digital textbooks” My Prediction is quite close to what he said. I think five years is plenty of time to spread the word of digital textbooks and also getting students and teachers to use it and notice it. I think schools should address the digital divide issue by asking the government for money to purchase some computers and printers so the students that cant access the texts online could get it from school.
I think that the use of textbooks will change in the future by putting them on the kindle electronic devise, or on a computer and that will make it much easier for students and teachers to carry it around and read from it anytime you want. In addition that will be also an easier way of teaching the students, because with that device students won't miss so much work when they are absent and that will make it much easier for teachers to communicate with their students even though they are not there.
California's initiative is going to be successful because kids and teachers already use computers everyday for lots of things, and they can make some time for learning as well, and with this idea people won't have to use so much paper and waste paper but instead they can be environment friendly as well and just use the computers.
There might be some problems like people not having internet, or not having computers at their homes especially if they just moved to a new country, and some people can’t afford buying a computer, in other words as they wrote in the article "that could widen the gap between the rich and poor." I think that yes the majority of people will be using the digital textbooks as the article said but I think that will happen after 6 to 7 years, I think that by that time people will be well educated about that devise. But that would be in only the rich areas and not in the poor areas and schools and that would also widen the gap. I thin that schools should address the digital divide issue by asking for money or letting the school purchase the kindle devices for students and returning them by the end of the school year, with taking a small fee from students and giving them 20% back if they return the device in good shape.
Areen Hijazi
I think relying on the web would improve the climate, and culture in California. Since the internet is rather fast on updating the latest information, you can't risk it. It can also be more to rely on with its video's that are attached on the web's page, it can give good grasp to educators, give brilliant ways, and ideas for teachers to get their students highly interested! Also, checking out books just for research takes a lot of time, rather than taking two hours to do so, you can just get your laptop in, or any device such as a kindle hand device, a podcast etc.. and find the latest info on the students everyday-subject handbooks just like history, and science! Math, and Literature! This can be very useful!When you get a book from the library you always have to ask yourself, "Does this book have enough information?", but when you go to the web, you always have to ask yourself, "Is this too much information?" Books would take plenty more space in a library, or a classroom, it also needs a large amount of money, and trees! While the web it gives little space, and a never ending amount of very helpful research, and sites to look for. A web is a rather useful source than books. You can always rely on it! I think the people in California will make an unbelievably big amount of change from switching from books to internet. And, if they compare it from before, to recently, their grades will make a huge amount of improvement, and effort included, it will also give teacher more ideas, and tips on ways of teaching their students in an easier way, and a more understanding type of teaching. It can even get students the most recent online published books for students to enjoy their studying on the web! It will really make some help in California, and their educators who need such as.
I think the use of textbooks will decrease significantly in the future because in the rapidly modernizing and digitalizing world they will quickly become inconvenient and old fashioned. I believe the California initiative will become very successful, but only through time. This revolutionary change can’t be made in a couple of years. A problem that might keep it from being successful is that there is a large group of kids that don’t have access to computers because they come from low-income families, and digital textbooks could take the rich and the poor even farther apart. My prediction is that the majority of students will be using digital textbooks in approximately seven years, because the majority of the students in the world aren’t as privileged as us. Schools should address the digital divide issue by helping poorer schools raise money to purchase more computers so that all students could have the opportunity to access one.
The use of textbooks will change in the future withe the use of laptops. It is a brilliant way to research, write papers, and do anything else in school, all on one computer. I think it will be very successful in the future, and a much more convinient way to study. It's much easier carrying around a laptop than several heavy books, but the flaws of the idea are not everyone can afford it, the laptop use all day can't be good for the eyes, or the environment. I agree with the superintendent, the majority of the students will use computers, but then again, the kids who can't afford it will have problems catching up in school. I think kids should be given the choice whether or not to use computers.
I think the textbooks will change in the future by using a laptop and Kindle that is very light and comfortable, not those heavy books that we always have to carry. They have these "digital sections" of English, History, and Science. It is a digital system that is really convenient. I think that Canada in the future will be very successful and poor at the same time since they will provide open and free books to not only low income families, but everyone who goes to that school. I predict that the majority of the students will use digital textbooks since technology is improving so much. Lastly, the school could ask the government to get all their needs for the digital divide issue.
I think that use of textbooks are defiantly going to change in the future because at the rate that we are going with new technology I think that digital textbooks will defiantly be part of the educational future. For now I don’t think the California initiative will get very far. The reason to that is people are still used to using textbooks and like they said some schools may not be able to provide digital textbooks for all their students. My prediction is that in probably ten years there will be a majority of digital textbooks for students to use. For my prediction to come true they would have to have come up with a way that would allow all schools to be able to afford such textbooks. Even if before the ten years digital textbooks are available it would probably take some time for them to be affordable for the schools that have less money.
I think the use of textbook will change in the future with a small, light electronic devise such as laptop. This will give great advantages to students and teachers in various ways. For example, they can put all subject into one laptop, instead of carrying every each of them. Also laptop can be used for other purposes too such as research for the projects. It will be very useful for the users. But I think Canada wont be successful for sure. Giving out books for free will make them poor. I don't agree with the superintendent. I don't think the majority of the students will use the digital because not all schools will have enough money to get digital textbooks, and eventhough they do, it's going to be hardship for the low income families.
The idea of computers taking over the role previously held by textbooks is somewhat overwhelming. Being finite, textbooks have already been replaced by the limitless Web as a reference material, but they are still widely used in schools. This could change within the next few years. I anticipate the California initiative being a success as long as it is not used in public schools. A large percentage of students attending public schools come from poor backgrounds and would likely have difficulty accessing a computer. As is stated in the article, "digital textbooks could widen the gap between rich and poor". I see no inexpensive way to address this issue. If a school had enough money, one solution would be to provide every student with the technology needed for classes. Another problem I foresee with the use of digital textbooks is that they could cause a decrease in the amount of interaction between students and teachers. The Web is a wonderful thing, but there are certain values that can only be taught by a person. For example, can one learn responsibility from a computer? What about a creative subject such as poetry? I hope that if digital textbooks do see a massive increase in scholastic use within the next five years, which they very well could, they will not eliminate classroom interaction.
I think the use of textbooks in the future will be very good in some ways and bad in other ways. First of all it is very easy to carry around school and a good way to do all your homework very easy with facts that you can find in the internet, also you can do projects and many other cool stuff with a laptop. The bad part of textbooks in the future is that you can loose all your memory without knowing what happened and it is very expensive to buy one also you might not have internet or something is wrong with your computer so you cant do your homework, I think the California Initiative will be very successful because a lot of teenagers use the computer to do homework, to find research, and to do some typing. My prediction is that if will happen and everyone will be using textbooks in the future.
I believe that having light, laptops that could you carry around everywhere instead of carrying heavy binders, and textbooks of lots of subjects. Digital textbooks combine all subjects into one device. This technology could allow projects, essays, powerpoints all get done digitally. It is also a great step to helping the enviroment, by not printing hundreds of pages in one heavy textbook, or even when students print outan essay,or a homework that is typed, there goes otherpaper wasted. I assume books in five years of time will only be found in deprived schools such as, Chaffey Joint Union High School District where almost half the students are from low-income families.
You could also surf the web on information that you are researching your topic on because the book doesn't state everything in there, but the internet does so you could easily get information off of there in a matter of secconds. The biggest disadvantage of having a digital textbook is that many low-incomed people around the world cannot afford them, some can even barely afford normal textbooks, and i don't think many could easily afford ones. This technology could make a huge difference between the rich and the poor, which would create many conflicts. I suppose only very few schools were use the new digital textbooks, and other schools will just stick to the normal everday paper textbooks.
i think the use of textbooks will decrease in the future because of the rise of computers. The computer now a days is a source of information and communication, therefore students and teachers will appreciate the portability of one lets say laptop instead of many heavy books.Computers offer the same amount of information from for example the internet as does the textbook. However, the computer offers much more variety for a student to work with such as typing an essay instead of taking time to hand write it. With the internet it is easy to type in whatever you need to research and find what you are looking for, but with the textbook this would take a longer time because you would have to flip through many pages that are not what your looking for. The superintendent might be headed on the right track but there comes problems with this like the decrease of eye sight, money issues and computers can be distracting for many students. I think in two to three years the California initiative will work but as I said before might come with a price.
"Textbooks and the Digital Future" is an insightful article on the use of digital textbooks in the near future.I think that in the time period of 5 years textbooks will not be used in schools. What is supplied in textbooks is now supplied in a computer, if not even more information on the subject. I agree with the idea of using digital textbooks because in the technology century we live in right now everything is controlled online, children spend hours on the computer talking to friends and at the same time should learn, with a supply they are now familiar in.
I think that this is a great idea because in 5 years if we do change to online textbooks it will be way easier that way and the internet cant get worn out so that is another plus to that.
I think that using digital textbooks will change the way we learn at school. It gives students a wider variety of study sources and makes it a lot easier on both pupil and teacher. Some of which are videos, games PowerPoint presentations, pictures and even movies, this is much more fun and easier to learn by than staring at a textbook for hours. Based on what I read I think that the California initiative will be extremely successful because as a student I know how boring it can be just using books for everything and how much better it is to use digital sources. The only problems that I see that might keep it from being successful is viruses, computer problems and poverty. Viruses are a big risk to computers and say you have heaps of work on your laptop or computer, one virus could delete all your files or even worse wipe out the entire computer. Computers are pretty reliable, but there will always be a problem, like low battery, slow computers and the risk of them falling or getting damaged. The last fault of this system is that the laptops are available only to people who can afford them, so if all schools require you to buy a laptop and you cant afford it, it will be a huge problem. I think that in a short period of time, such as 20 or 25 years most of the world will change to the new system, because California state can afford it but other countries may not be able to, so for the whole world to catch on it will take a longer time. My solution to the digital divide problem is for wealthier schools to provide them and for less fortunate schools to use the normal system as to not to handicap the students.
I read this article three times. The first two times all I could think about was how silly this idea was, and how textbooks have been doing fine for such a long time and that they don't need to be replaced. The third time however, I began to realize that maybe the flexbooks aren't such a bad idea after all. They give more information, and they're cheaper (for now) so what could possibly go wrong? The only problem I could find was that this would be getting kids used to computers and then they wouldn't want to use textbooks anymore, or write and read which is an important part of language and education. I imagine that in the future many kids around the world will be using these new digital textbooks although I don't think that every country in the world will be able to provide them for themselves. The California initiative might be successful in the far future, but I can't see it going anywhere right now. It might not be successful because a lot of people won't be encouraged to use it and they will want to stick with classical education. I'd have to disagree with the school superintendent who said that in five years the majority of students will be using digital textbooks. This may be true in California but then again California is only a very small portion of the world. I like the idea of providing both normal textbooks and digital textbooks and letting each school decide what they want, because that way everybody wins.
I think that the use of textbooks will change in the future because of the use of laptops. Textbooks are heavy and expensive and it would’ve been great if all teachers and pupils had their own computer, because then they wouldn’t need any textbooks, notebooks or other school supplies. But everyone can’t afford their own computer. If it’s possible I think that the schools should buy computers for all their students, then there won’t be any difference between poor and rich. I don’t think that computers should replace teachers, because then it will be more difficult for the pupils to concentrate on the schoolwork, and you also get very tired by looking on a computer screen for a whole day. Idunn
I think that the internet could soon replace the textbook, although the internet can offer false information and can lead to bad results. For the teachers it is also harder to control where the students got their information from. A plus for the digital textbook is that you can carry around all your subjects in a laptop, decreasing the space you need for the textbooks and the weight. If you should not be able to afford a laptop etc. there is still the possibility to buy a used one or find out a way with the teacher.
I'm not surprised by this article. I'm quite glad that textbook might replace textbooks in the future. Sometimes my bag weighs in at 25-30 pounds. It's really heavy and annoying to carry around with all those textbooks. Having a computer which weighs at most 9 pounds would be quite a relief. Plus, it'd be easy for kids and teachers, because homework would be easier to remember. Also, today, kids like using computers. It's more fun then listening to a teacher drone on (sorry). If textbooks were replaced by computers, I think life would be easier for everyone, teachers included.
I'm not surprised by this article. I'm quite glad that textbook might replace textbooks in the future. Sometimes my bag weighs in at 25-30 pounds. It's really heavy and annoying to carry around with all those textbooks. Having a computer which weighs at most 9 pounds would be quite a relief. Plus, it'd be easy for kids and teachers, because homework would be easier to remember. Also, today, kids like using computers. It's more fun then listening to a teacher drone on (sorry). If textbooks were replaced by computers, I think life would be easier for everyone, teachers included.
I think changing from textbooks to computers is a really good idea. first off I mean at least we wouldn’t have to carry around big heavy books all the time anymore. also I think that an online book would have more valuable and up to date material to learn from because today’s even the newest books are at least a couple years out of date. so much is changing that you could even have a new book a day and it still wouldn’t be enough. online learning also saves billions of trees because we would no longer need to cut them down to make textbooks. In the article when William Habermehl said that in five years he thinks most students will have laptops instead of textbook I think it was a bit of a stretch. not that the world isn’t ready for that yet but I think that the schools aren’t ready for it. to replace books with computers will cost allot of money, but in the long run it’s totally worth it. (:
I think that it is completely normal to expect that a use of digital textbooks is going to appear in a close future. In my opinion, it would be really good not to have to carry all the heavy books all the time, but also, it would be like internet and computers are replacing everything!
No more old pages of books, no more good things about regular textbooks. It's kind of good in a way, but also not.
Because, if that happens, what are the poor people supposed to do? I have a friend who is so poor that she doesn't even have a computer yet, and not to mention internet!
But, I think it is completely reasonable to expect it in future, because as things are standing now, internet has almost replaced everything. That is just my opinion.
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