Replacing textbooks with laptops
Aug 19th, 2005 by Jon Stahl
Back in my senior year of college, in 1995, at the dawn of the internet revolution (or whatever), it first occurred to me that laptops could someday replace printed textbooks. Ten years later, it looks like the future has caught up. One Arizona high school has done away with textbooks and issued laptops to all students instead. It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out. It will be even more interesting when pen-based computing technology matures one more generation.
Ahh…..my eyes!!. I would not want to read for extended periods of time using current screen technology. A book of high production standards can last 5 plus years or more, not likely with the laptop. I would rather see textbooks replaced by decent monographs. The textbook industry resembles the software industry at its worse, with the never ending upgrade cycle, high prices, and restrictive licensing. Seriously, does a textbook on calculus need to be updated ever 2 years or less, are there new advancements in entry level calculus that need to be addressed with each new addition? I think that the textbook issue in general should be the source of focus. I feel that laptops in schools are generally not a good idea.
I recall seeing something about this a few weeks ago and thinking “this is dumb.” The idea of issuing laptops to high school students seems crazy given the associated costs related to it. Reading textbook materials on a computer screen is painful. Most of these kids will print this out at home or at school.
The point though is that this really speaks to the crazy prices of textbooks and higher education in general. Article in today’s Chicago Tribune about college textbook prices (which somehow kept rising after I left college). Starts with…
“After buying textbooks for two years at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Louiza Zouzias has come to expect high prices for the hefty books.
But even Zouzias was shocked Wednesday when the bookstore cash register displayed a $706.57 tab for 12 books she needs this semester, including a $160.15 economics book.”
$700 bucks for 12 books doesn’t seem bad, actually. I paid similar amounts 15 years ago.
Textbook business is largely a crazy cash cow for professors and publishers. Until schools and students respond it won’t change. Cost management is horrid at universities in general, though, particularly private schools. Can always pass along more costs to students that will be met in the form of loans. Sky is the limit.
Cost of education is still largely worth it but, as someone that now has two little kids and thinks about these things, it’s increasingly unrealistic for more and more people.
I think we should replace textbooks with laptops as we will not have to take a lot of books to school. In Singapore, students in secondary schools have about 11 subjects to study, plus at the files and worksheets given to us, our bags are very heavy. With a laptop, we need not carry 11 subjects textbooks to school, all the info will be in the laptop!!!
I am a facilitator at a public alternative high school in Waterbury, Vermont. 98% of our students self-driven curricular research is done via the Internet. Interest is up engagement is peaking and real learning is occurring.
I dont think students should have laptops because they probably wont even use them for shool! The cost for buying every individual student a laptops would also be OUTRAGEOUS! I know it ay be easier with laptops but the kids would probably just ruin them anyway. I have many other opionions on this subject but i must go now.
In my opinion, laptops are a great alternative to books. On a personal note, I am a sophmore in high school and I am a very small person. I don’t enjoy carrrying around 4 HEAVY books all day! We could save so many trees with just one school switching to laptops. Imagine how many we could save with a whole state! Yes, that is my opinion.