Are our schools' textbooks out of date? This question is one that many teachers and students agree upon. Scientists and researchers are always learning new things, however, students without updated textbooks are not. In fact, the average middle school textbook is at least seven to ten years old. This means that the average eighth grade student has a textbook that still says that Pluto is a planet (this is not right). Luckily there is a solution to this problem, iPads. The textbooks on this interactive tablet can be updated with the push of a button for free.
The tablets used by schools offer many technological features that cannot be found in print textbooks of any kind. The tablet’s e-textbooks allows readers to highlight, edit text, and write notes without ruining an expensive textbook that then has to be replaced. A tablet can also offer lighting options, a built-in dictionary, and a search function. Features like this have been proven to increase student creativity, attentiveness, motivation, and engagement in classroom material. “‘I think that there are some really interesting possibilities with digital books,’ says Bill Ranklin, ACU’s director of educational innovation. ‘Books that re-imagine what a book is; that integrate media; that integrate social media’” (Coombs).
“...when it comes to engaging today’s students, it’s no the content that matters, but the format” (Rock). A study by publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, was tested on children in California’s Riverside Unified School District. A group of students was selected and a number of them were given a digital version of an Algebra 1 textbook on an Apple iPad. It was later concluded that students that used the digital version scored an average 20 percent higher on standardized tests than the students that used the regular textbooks (Rock).
“...when it comes to engaging today’s students, it’s no the content that matters, but the format” (Rock). A study by publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, was tested on children in California’s Riverside Unified School District. A group of students was selected and a number of them were given a digital version of an Algebra 1 textbook on an Apple iPad. It was later concluded that students that used the digital version scored an average 20 percent higher on standardized tests than the students that used the regular textbooks (Rock).
America’s schools are now ditching the oversized, unappealing textbooks and looking for better solutions to replace them. But how do you combat this problem without wasting money again? The answer for most schools is simple! Tablets.
Today, the technology markets are flooded with hundreds of different tablets with all different shapes, sizes, and internal storage space. The overwhelming majority of these tablets can offer thousands of educational apps that inspire the “new normal” of classroom learning. The tablet can open doors to schools, teachers, and students. With thousands of schools already using the new technology in their classrooms more and more are starting to change from the terrible textbook to the terrific tablet.
Today, the technology markets are flooded with hundreds of different tablets with all different shapes, sizes, and internal storage space. The overwhelming majority of these tablets can offer thousands of educational apps that inspire the “new normal” of classroom learning. The tablet can open doors to schools, teachers, and students. With thousands of schools already using the new technology in their classrooms more and more are starting to change from the terrible textbook to the terrific tablet.
Print textbooks are heavy and can cause some very serious back injuries while being carried by children on their walks to and from school. Many pediatricians and chiropractors recommend that students carry a backpack less than 15% of their body weight (Adams). However, the combined weight of a math, science, language arts, and history thoroughly exceeds these recommendations. In this past school year alone, US Consumer Product Safety Commision concluded more than 13,700 kids were treated in hospitals and doctors’ offices for backpack related injuries (US Bureau of Labour...). The backpacks that these children were carrying were obviously much more than 15% of their body weight, so they suffered the consequences. In conclusion, the tablet is a solution to this ever growing global problem. On average, weighing less than two pounds the tablet poses no risk to the safety of students and also allows the user to download all the textbooks that they would have had to carry. Therefore, the tablet eliminates the risk all together.
Teachers are always looking for ways to interact with their students on an educational level to get them excited about learning. A classroom that offers a variety of hands on technology is generally the best solution. “Just the fact that it’s on the iPad and its all on there makes me a lot more interested” said a student attending Abilene Christian University (Coombs). Equally important is the fact that 81% of EIS teachers believe that “tablets enrich classroom education”. In addition, a survey of technology in the classroom by PBS concluded that 77% of classroom educators also found the new tablets increase student motivation during classes.