The Tablet Based Textbook: An Iceberg Toward Dystopia

Many schools have switched from using paper textbooks to iPads or chromebooks, which allow students to access online textbooks. But is this a good change? There are many factors that need to be put into consideration, including the age group of a kids receiving the technology, the classes this tool can be used for, and the children’s ability to interact with others.

The article I chose to read is More Substance, Less Hype: Using Digital Texts to Support Readers by Sarah Lundy. Lundy is a social studies teacher in the Pacific North West who incorporated digital texts in the classroom. Her goal was not to add technology to the classroom just to be more relevant or hip, but she added digital texts to differentiate, scaffold, and accommodate her students. She said, “A thoughtfully designed digital text provides a powerful resource for meeting diverse learning needs while developing critical literacy skills (Lundy, 2015, p. 101).” Lundy added digital texts to her classroom with the help of iPad’s and iBooks Textbooks.

Textbooks are the most effective tool of educational technologies and they will always play a role in our educational systems. However they are being used as instruments to rewrite and sugarcoat

Within the last five years, the school I attend purchased iPads for student use. One way we use them is to download textbooks. This is a wonderful system for many reasons. Physical textbooks should be replaced entirely by electronic versions on portable devices. Education is a very important part of every person's life. We begin learning just moments after we are born, and we do not stop learning until we die. Without knowledge, humans would not be humans, and our way of life would never

Once upon a time, elementary level classrooms emphasized the importance of books. Children ventured into school libraries where colorful book covers peaked their interests. Some schools would host book fairs, promoting new literature with life-sized cutouts of the powerful protagonist and new supporting characters of that year’s most popular novel or children’s book. Today, school libraries seem vacant as opposed to how they appeared even ten years ago. The introduction of the iPad took the world by storm; instead of asking for a book or crayons, children present a greater attracted to new technology. From diapers to day school, children evidently hold mobile tablets in hand, whether out with their parents or in the privacy of their own home. Guy Merchant wrote the article, “Keep Taking the Tablets: iPads, story apps and early literacy” based on the behavioral observation of children, when

LAST week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared a war on paper textbooks. “Over the next few years,” he said in a speech at the National Press Club, “textbooks should be obsolete.” In their place would come a variety of digital-learning technologies, like e-readers and multimedia Web sites.

Textbooks are getting more expensive as the years go by, publishers add extra materials to raise prices, and new editions are published frequently, often with little to no real content change. These problems are even worse today, as the cost of books keeps rising to the point where some students will decline to take a class due to the cost of the material. A 2004 study by the California Student Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) along with the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), called “Ripoff 101: How the current practices of the textbook industry drive up the cost of college textbooks,” confirmed this problem. A survey polling the most widely assigned textbooks at 10 public universities in California and Oregon, and interviews were done with 156 faculty members and 521 students on the cost of textbooks and purchasing habits. (Fairchild 4). Despite the rising costs of printing and shipping due to inflation, publishers are artificially causing the cost of textbooks to rise to line their own pockets with profit and it will harm lower to middle income students ' education.

Benjamin Herold, in his article “Digital Reading Poses Learning Challenges for Students”, makes claims complementary to digital reading while acknowledging the benefits of print reading, suggesting a revision of digital reading methods that implements some of the same characteristics readers appreciate when reading from print. Herold understands the reality of the comprehensive deficiencies related to digital reading, just as Nicholas Carr established in his own article. With tablets becoming the standard mode of reading in school, Herold describes the challenges students face when studying or reading their digital textbooks before offering a converging solution that incorporates aspects of physical reading. When reading from a screen, the brain may instinctively scan over a text rather than thoroughly read it, which impacts comprehension significantly. With a program called Curriculet, students have access to interactive features that actually benefit their educational experience rather than disrupt it. Herold mentions that teachers have the ability to “embed annotations, multimedia, ‘checkpoint’ questions, and formal assessments that can prompt students to consider key points … and probe for understanding” (Herold 25). Instead of falling to the change, Curriculet accepts the challenge of bettering the technological experience and improving digital literacy. Carr and Herold share the understanding

Chapman, Gary. "Digital Nation: Push to Trade Class Textbooks For Laptop PCS Is A Misuse Of Technology." Teacher Librarian 26.1 (1998): n. pag. Education Research Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.

“Ripe for digital destruction,” (A Textbook) were words of the late Steve Jobs referring to the enormous potential for the textbooks industry. He believed the textbook market to be worth an estimated 8 billion dollars in the U.S. alone. His vision was to lessen the burden of carrying heavy textbooks around, while also offering them as a free feature with the iPad. He wanted to change the culture of textbooks forever.

Since the introduction of e-readers/tablet over a decade ago, reading materials has become more easily accessible and new methods of content delivery have emerged. E-books (Electronic textbooks) provides immediate access to read or download new books/texts which really assisted in improving habits of students. In contrast, despite the impact of digital technologies, textbooks still have been retained as a popular choice for academic purposes. E-books tend to use the same presentation as textbooks and some are only a digital representation of the printed version, with the hope for users to achieve the same experience as traditional textbooks. On the other hand, despite the advantages that e-textbooks offer, several barriers exist regarding their use by school districts namely non-standardization of the e-textbooks, technological costs and accessibility beyond the classroom.

There’s no question that Ebooks are becoming popular among the students and teachers or professors alike. Ebooks are cheaper, lighter and less bulky alternative for textbooks. Ebooks were now used for all levels of education, from elementary to graduate school. A 2011 study sponsored by Kno found that 71 percent of students would prefer their required reading be available in a digital format. Ebooks appear to have a lot of benefits among the students, teachers or professors and even the school. Ebooks’ benefits are it is cheaper and lighter rather than the usual print textbooks, there’s a lot of numbers of books that can be installed and carried by a single tablet or Ebook, it lessens someone’s burden on carrying heavy and books in their bags.

In today's society, everyone's life revolves around the internet. Online networking has completely transformed how individuals communicate, socialize, and make connections. Therefore, it is no surprise that the internet has profoundly affected many educational platforms as well as social ones. Numerous publishing companies around the world have begun to create "e-textbooks" — textbooks that are available online to download. School administrators and educators have debated whether purchasing electronics for academic use is a more practical option to the physical alternative. While digital textbooks have many benefits, the challenges that arise as a result of their over-complicated nature make their implementation in schools less than ideal.

All across the world, children up to the age of eighteen or the twelfth grade are enrolled in some type of schooling system whether it be public, private, or home school. In these schools, the students are required to study and learn with the use of either textbooks or tablets. Many schools and administrators prefer the use of textbooks rather than tablets in classrooms, but through research and personal experience, I have found that tablets contribute to an enhanced education for students and prepare them for the future.

How many countries are in the world, can dogs eat strawberries, what is the largest building in South America? These are all great questions that can easily be researched on an iPad. Recent studies show that as of 2016 43 percent of Americans read online books, magazines, or newspapers. The idea of tablets in the classroom is supported by teachers and students around the country. They believe that tablets would be more effective for learning purposes and improve standardized testing. In the U.S over 8 billion dollars are spent on outdated textbooks each year. Replacing textbooks with tablets will benefit students in and outside the classroom.