Schools using tablets instead of books

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Mallory Porshnev
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Re: Schools using tablets instead of books

Post by Mallory Porshnev »

I think this is a cost of funds that schools could better use elsewhere. However, it might be a good investment in the long run as new school book editions can get pricey, too.
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KatSims92
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Post by KatSims92 »

Yeah, I agree with everyone else about how books are much cheaper than e-readers for every student, especially for schools in low-income areas where they can barely afford actual paperback books, let alone technology.
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Post by Riszell »

I don't agree with this idea. Tablets could be distracting and there are already a lot of technology distractions in this modern era that divert students' attentions from academic learning.
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Post by humphreyluke »

i am in support of such development.
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Post by Nanig83006 »

I'm not against tablets being used, but I believe they should still use books. Kind of like a dual-learning. I often worry my son spends too much time on his tablet, so I make sure to balance it out by having him read and write just as much. I'm no fool, the future will be filled with tech-savvy kids, teens, and adults, but I plan for my kid(s) to be able to be so and more. I think we should only worry if schools get rid of books altogether in favor of tablets only. If they do that, it won't be long before they're favoring typing over writing (which is slowly happening).
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Post by kinjoz »

I vote for books over tablets. Introducing technology to children as early as their young school life overrides the other simple things in life that can be far more enjoyable. Yes, it may prove easier, faster and may even be a better way for all of them to learn but the long-term implications on their health as well as intellect far outweigh the pros. They may miss out on a part of childhood that their predecessors gladly lived through. The tablets can then be introduced at a much much later age in school. Already, there's so much of technology at homes so why not preserve a part of school that has always been school - books?
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Post by LennyDots »

I used to be dead set against using a tablet, until my junior year of college. I was doing history research using a lot of scanned copies of primary sources in PDF format. I had a moment of realization that there just were not enough hours in my day where I had access to a pc I could read them on for me to finish my paper. I ended up buying the most inexpensive, basic kindle I could and getting them all uploaded. Using that, I was able to do more research during my downtime at work (where a laptop wasn't allowed, but e-readers were) and I didn't have to try printing out some 12,000 pages of material to bring it with me. So portability is a huge factor.

I've seen little kids struggle through hallways with backpacks as big as they are that weigh like 40lbs. E-readers have that going for them too.

One other thing to keep in mind is that textbook companies are kind of corrupt. They have undergrads write or rewrite the materials, fact checkers don't always, and the contents are often swayed by political special interest. For example, Texas is the largest state buyer of textbooks, and there was a huge debate in 2015 because they were trying to force the textbook industry to only include slavery in history books as a "side issue" to the civil war and not it's cause. And because text books are expensive to produce and ship, if only on the weight of their glossy paper, and because Texas not buying your book is a huge sales blow, some publishers caved. Those books are supposed to have a lifetime of several years before they're replaced, and in that time the physical books can't be edited, and they're so expensive that school districts buy them in bulk, and the more popular books are cheaper. With an e-reader, a teacher can choose their own books or even (though unlikely at the high school level) write them, and distribute them far more cheaply than by printing a physical copy. In addition, when a major error is found in a mainstream textbook in a digital format, it can be fixed and all copies updated with a minimum of fuss, as opposed to making a note to fix it in the new edition in five or ten years.

And sure, e-readers break or go down. It happens. But having a single e-reader per child isn't really much more costly than one regular textbook- and any given child will probably use five or six textbooks a year in different subjects. With an e-reader setup the school should be able to just negotiate more of a subscription set up for textbooks instead of charging per child, and if they set up a cloud backup system for the kids and keep a few spares in the office, kids should be able to access their accounts from other devices too and recover the contents of their device on a new one if something happens to the original. If schools aren't doing something that sensible, that's more on the district than it is the fault of the e-readers themselves. I'd say it's a system that really should be set up at the Dept of Ed level and give every public school access, which might also ease funding issues at low income schools and give them access to more current materials provided they could cover the base cost of readers (which, remember, is or at least can be actually similar or cheaper to physical books.)

In terms of doing schoolwork, though, and having it not save or something- there's no reason that schoolwork needs to be done on a tablet or whatever. You can still have digital reference materials and do the schoolwork by hand.
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Post by Jennifer Fernandez »

Tablets can be a great tool for school if used right. Unfortunately, that will never be the case. They should stick to old school books.
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Post by Bookgirleva »

One good reason to switch to tablets is many books that schools read are classics and many classics are free to read. You can also highlight and make notes easily
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Post by Oulababe »

I think that the use of tablets in schools is preparing kids for the future because it will most likely be all computerized.
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Post by Asisha Joseph »

I really prefer tablets for note-taking, because I'm a better typer than a writer. But drawings and tables are much easier to do on paper than tablet, at least for me.
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Post by summerbabe »

I personally think it's a good idea to replace tablet with books, where I am from the kids have to be carry there bags every day . Sometime they don't have a time table so they bring all the books at once, that's not healthy. With the tablet everything can be in one place and be every where
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Post by raqstar1 »

My first response is to say, of course paper books are better. Less time in front of a monitor of any sort is good. I think that technology is part of what is causing the decline in critical thinking.
On the other hand, my daughter is in a very rural area where there isn't a great library or access to a good supply of paper books. In their case, the cost of a tablet for a student versus new books for each student can actually make it so that the students have access to more information.
With those thoughts, I'd have to say that, for students in areas where there is access to a vast amount of resources, paper books should be the preference. But for students in areas with little to no access to resources, a tablet is a great tool.
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Post by Bookmaniac »

I'm on the fence with this one. I think both have their pros and cons. We live in such a digital world now that I would hate for children to not experience the feel of holding a book. But on the other hand, digital gives them access to so much more reading material.
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Post by HailKingEbi »

the world is Global, technology has taken over. it's a good idea to incorporate the knowledge into children. The use of tablets in schools is a good idea. and it'll be more fun for the kids.
We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings - Doctor Manhattan.
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