Do we still need textbooks in high schools???

The vexing curriculum that I chose to respond to has been brought to light recently with Apple's release of it's ipad. I have had a few conversations with teachers at my school about the possibility of the ipad or ebook replacing the traditional textbook. In my interview with a curriculum leader a few weeks ago, the leader I interviewed said that removing traditional textbooks and replacing them with online options would be the first thing she would do if afforded the opportunity. Beginning this school year (2009-2010) the state of California began offering it's science and math textbooks online via ebook. Other states such as Florida and Texas have also begun looking in to converting to online text books. Also, text book publishers like McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, Kaplan and others have begun working with apple and ebook manufacturers to make the above statement a reality.

The primary reason states are looking to make the jump to online texts and ebooks is financial. Books can cost districts hundreds of thousands of dollars. Books can cost anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars per student. Other benefits of online text books are their ability to be updated instantly by the publisher and the need for a student to carry one ipad, tablet or ebook that can download multiple texts. Some drawbacks to ebooks can be the fact that some students lack internet access at home, teachers inability to work with this new technology and an infrastructure that may not be ready for a complete conversion to online texts.

My take on this issue is that although this technology is exciting and seem to be an inexpensive option for schools, it appears as though there are a lot of unanswered questions. I beleive that in the next 5 to 10 years, many of the bugs will be ironed out and students will have the opportunity to learn via online texts. If I were asked as the leader of a school if this were the way to go, today, I would say that we should wait and see. Like almost all technology, the price will go down, the process for distribution and consumption of ebooks will be streamlined and many unanswered questions will be answered over time.

Taking the Digital Plunge

In order to show Ed what I've learned from last week's readings, I decided to create a twitter account for myself and find some people in education to follow (administrators, technology, and wellness). This week, I have enjoyed reading people's "tweets" and have encountered some interesting links to areas of interest amongst the 25 to 30 people I follow. I also have received messages from people that I have chosen to follow and enjoy the opportunity to interact with educators with some of the same issues and ideals. This appears to be a very valuable tool in terms of professional development and has begun to be a part of my routine every day.

I haven't made any tweets yet and don't know if I ever will but it is staggering to me the ease in which you can be connected with others who have such thoughtful information to share. What a inexpensive and effective tool for professional development! It's like the reference that Bill Ferriter made in his article, teachers need to model learning through technology and be transparent in the process. Sharing this process with students can be informative for the teacher and the student and begins to hit on the possibilities that technology affords us.