ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOL SWAPS TEXTBOOKS FOR LAPTOPS
Students at Empire High School here started class this year with no textbooks -- but it wasn't because of a funding crisis.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...56967%2C00.html
Wow, this is kind of exciting! I knew that some colleges were requiring students to have a laptop for certain functions, but to have a high school *issue* them in lieu of textbooks.. that's rather amazing, in my opinion, and I'm also pleasantly surprised to hear they are Apple laptops! Very cool. I'd like to follow this, because it seems like kind of an experiment.
I believe nothing compares with the feeling of having a book in your hands, turning the pages, smelling the scent of paper, feeling the texture. The only reason why I would prefer a laptop-textbook would be for the search function, I mean, indexes cannot always suffice if for example you remember a phrase of what you are looking for etc. I'd prefer an old fashioned textbook, however computers are also very important, in searchin the WWW for example. But books should remain books for me. Interesting experimentation though.
An experiment is an apt description. And I feel it is an experiment doomed to failure. For those of us who have had to get through advanced degrees in technical subjects, there is no replacement for tabs, highlights and references in the margins. While these things can be done on a computer and even hyper texted and have little sticky like notes typed in, it has been my experience that this takes too long a time and is cumbersome. Even today as I receive well over 25 briefs a week. I am given them in power point but take notes on the hard copy and file it away. The benefits touted of quick updates and lower costs due less publishing are off set by the lack of quality text books offered and the cost of maintaining the network, computers and operating systems. Most computers must be replaced every 3 years or so just to keep up with the software technology not to mention the abuse of the computers by the students themselves. I believe that computers are a good tool for classroom learning but definitely not a good replacement for textbooks.
Wyldehorse
The first college I attended required us to have a laptop as well as our textbooks. It was really great having all that access to information and fewer things to lug around, but I was always wishing that they could get rid of the textbooks. Right now, I am taking an on-line class, for which I do have a text book and even a workbook, but it would be simpler if it were ALL online. Maybe it would be good to keep the textbooks for Math classes but get rid of the rest? This, of course, is simply my opinion.
Does learning improve when every student gets a laptop?
Schools that provide each student with a laptop computer, as well as the appropriate support for both students and teachers, see significant improvement in academic achievement, a new paper indicates. Ref. Source 7n.
The best is to have a laptop and a book. Nothing beats the old technology of hard paper, but also the new technologies add to it. Whereas the feeling and smell of paper is something subjective (Personally I always smell my books, when buying them or reading them, especially the old ones), the pros of new technologies is obvious. Laptops are powerhouses and can have a lot of professional programs (Eg, I use mine with architectural programs) but tablets are compact and you can have multiple books at hand, anytime, anywhere.
A very big advantage of paper and books is that they do not need power and are always available to use.