Tablets instead of books

toradrake

toradrake

Legacy Member
Have any of you tried to promote the idea of issuing tablets rather then books to students with all their required material on them?

The reason I ask is that when I was in the student government, I fought to remove physical books from the school and to give every student a tablet that their books are digitally placed on. It almost went through, but I had to leave school before it happened and my successor (I was President at the time) did not push it or even bring it up again and so it fell through the cracks.

The use of digital books rather then physical is cheaper for schools and much more convenient for students. Rather then carry 4 or 5 books around they can carry a tablet with books in it. They can create notes and such on them also so that they can keep up with the class (there are writing tools on them that require a digital pen instead of a typewriter so they do not lose their writing capability) and teachers instructions.

I still advocate for digital material because it is so much less costly for schools (the funds they save on books can go towards other more important areas) and I way better for the environment (what do you think happens to those books every two years? They are thrown out because the new updated version replaces them).

So think on it a bit and do some research on the idea. Maybe you can begin advocating for this change in your area.
 
I am living in the Caribbean and the school that my son attends issued tablets to every student that's enrolled...it's far more cost effective as this year i didn't have the burden of purchasing all the text books that i usually bought. I have to be constantly watching him as when he should be doing assignments on his tablet he is streaming music or playing games....i think this is a problem that most parents will be encountering...other than that i think it's the greatest change for a very long time.
 
camella wallace said:
I am living in the Caribbean and the school that my son attends issued tablets to every student that's enrolled...it's far more cost effective as this year i didn't have the burden of purchasing all the text books that i usually bought. I have to be constantly watching him as when he should be doing assignments on his tablet he is streaming music or playing games....i think this is a problem that most parents will be encountering...other than that i think it's the greatest change for a very long time.
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I think there is a way to make it so that he can either only use those features and/or internet at certain times or for a certain amount of time. Check out the parental controls on there... see what you can do with it.

I think that is great. The rest of the schools in the world should follow.
 
In Iowa most schools give kids a laptop to do most of their homework on. They are issued starting in the 5th grade and are given through 12th. Of course they have to turn them at the end of the year, and if their damaged the parents have to pay. I imagine the cost of the computers has been recouped long ago at saving textbook, paper and others fees to teach the "old way". I am not sure why tablets were not given. The only reason I can see is that they cost more than a basic laptop that probably was even cheaper when bought in bulk.
 
I agree with toradrake!
Hooray for tablets! Some school districts have no choice. Financially it may be more economical.
We used to have a set of books located inside the classroom. Students either kept their individual copy at home or in their locker. Students had no excuse for not completing the given homework because they were often checked to make sure they went home with those text books or parents were emailed requesting they kept those text books home so their child was prepared to complete the given homework.
Every year, the district had to purchase replacement books for lost texts. The high schools were the first to place teacher's texts online. That way, our auxiliary texts were never stolen. Then the middle school received the next wave of online texts. The district ended up saving over 1 million dollars over a three year period. The next thing we know, students were offered a super discount to purchase tablets from the district. Then I noticed the dictionaries and other resource materials were replaced by the use of tablets. The district began saving even more money.

Currently, most districts in my area made a huge announcement. The state would no longer have to worry about Snow Days because children would receive their lesson on line. Snow days cost each state millions and millions of dollars to maintain buses and getting those buses out. Now the state would save millions of dollars all because of those easily accessible tablets. Once more, hooray for tablets!
 
Allison2021 said:
I agree with toradrake!
Hooray for tablets! Some school districts have no choice. Financially it may be more economical.
We used to have a set of books located inside the classroom. Students either kept their individual copy at home or in their locker. Students had no excuse for not completing the given homework because they were often checked to make sure they went home with those text books or parents were emailed requesting they kept those text books home so their child was prepared to complete the given homework.
Every year, the district had to purchase replacement books for lost texts. The high schools were the first to place teacher's texts online. That way, our auxiliary texts were never stolen. Then the middle school received the next wave of online texts. The district ended up saving over 1 million dollars over a three year period. The next thing we know, students were offered a super discount to purchase tablets from the district. Then I noticed the dictionaries and other resource materials were replaced by the use of tablets. The district began saving even more money.

Currently, most districts in my area made a huge announcement. The state would no longer have to worry about Snow Days because children would receive their lesson on line. Snow days cost each state millions and millions of dollars to maintain buses and getting those buses out. Now the state would save millions of dollars all because of those easily accessible tablets. Once more, hooray for tablets!
Click to expand...

I have actually been trying to convince a lot of people to start writing to the boards about having tablets mandated nationwide. It would save all the school so much money and it is so much easier to keep track of. Books are a thing of the past... time to move into the future.
 
I don't think books are ever going to go away altogether, and that's a good thing. I personally prefer to hold a book in my hand if it is a long read, like a novel. The lightweight paperback is my preference. Reading on tablets and cell phones is nice if it's a short read, like an article or a short story. Although digital devices do save money for the schools in the long run, it is a risk, especially with younger students that are not as coordinated. There are likely to be lots of breakage.
 
It is being gradually phased in where i am from. The tablets issued were given to students and they were able to take them home.The tablets were fitted with security features preventing students from accessing certain cites deemed noneducational or too mature for children. One student found a way to break this security mechanism and as a result of this they were recalled. The last i heard of it is that officials from the technology ministry is in dialogue with this students to ascertain how he was able to by-pass the security feature.

For now there is a hold on the issuing of tablets to other institutions. Tablets in school is an excellent decision and with careful monitoring, it can result in improvements in the teaching learning process.
 
I do not think promoting the idea of tablets instead of books is really a good one. It encourages the students to get into the digital world rather than be in the world of material books. I am sure that encouraging tablets can be very distractive for the children and also harm their eyes.
 
I agree to a certain extent. I wouldn't desire all school material to be on a tablet. It's very limiting to the child. Their dependency on technology wouldn't be the outcome that I would like very much. Diversity is always a good thing.
 
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