At University Christian School, iPad to replace textbooks

[thelakelander]

The Jacksonville private school is taking a leap forward by becoming one of a handful of campuses in the state, and possibly the first in Northeast Florida, to begin converting to a textbook-free high school by relying completely on tablet technology.

Starting in August, all University Christian high school students and the school’s eighth-grade class will be required to own i-Pads.

“We want to prepare them for college and the world outside of University Christian School when they graduate,” said Heath Nivens, head of school at University Christian, “and we feel like the best way to do that is to create a classroom that’s unmatched by any other school.”

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-01-19/story/university-christian-school-ipad-replace-textbooks-0

[JeffreyS]

You can rent some of the text books at Florida State College now on your Nook, Ipad or Kindle.

[Jimmy]

In light of Apple's major push into digital textbook publishing, announced yesterday, this is timely.

As much as I like Apple, I am very concerned about the push to delivering textbooks and enhanced learning tools via iPad.  That's a $500 per student cost of entry.  Does it deepen the digital divide?  It may.  I'm worried about have and have-nots in this space.

[KenFSU]

That's a $500 per student cost of entry.

Not to mention the thousands of dollars potentially lost by students by eliminating the buying and selling of used books.

[KenFSU]

P.S. I genuinely dislike this idea.

For a multitude of reasons.

1) As mentioned above, it neuters the secondary book market, preventing students from buying and selling used copies of very, very expensive college textbooks.

2) As a day-one iPad and iPad 2 buyer, it's my opinion that reading books on the iPad is a pretty miserable experience relative physical books. The backlighting strains your eyes. You can't run a highlighter over important sections or tab pages with the same simple ease. And flipping back and forth between sections is a major pain in the ass relative actual books.

3) A physical textbook won't run out of battery and shut down in the middle of class. The software won't crash. If it falls off your desk, it won't shatter into a million pieces.

4) If you put iPads in front of a bunch of students in class, half of them are going to be doing other things on the iPad rather than following along with the book.

5) It places an additional $500 burden on parents, with little to show for it besides bleeding eyeballs and a lighter back pack.

6) It makes students easy, obvious targets for robbery.

7) If it catches on and becomes widespread and permanent, it potentially gives Apple and unfair monopoly in schools, unless other tablets are included in the program.

8 ) What happens if a student breaks his iPad and it either a) needs to be sent in for repairs, or b) his parents can't afford to buy him a new one at that moment in time. Does his learning just screech to a hault until his gadget is fixed?

I don't know, to me this just seems like a fancy, misguided way to try to solve a problem that never existed in the first place.

[Tacachale]

As much as I hate to see a threat to physical books, I can see the benefits. Though I-pads are expensive, text books are also expensive, are only good for that year (or semester, in college), and you never get anywhere close to your money back when selling them back - though the store can make a nice big profit off of used books.

This is an idea that will certainly require some growing pains.

[Jaxson]

As a school teacher, I have to concur with the previous posting about the cons of using the iPad in place of textbooks.  I don't want to speak for a private school, but I know that many public school students already have a problem being able to replace textbooks that cost in the neighborhood of $60 - let alone having to replace a broken, lost or stolen tablet. 

[iMarvin]

This isn't an additional $500. The article says the school is eliminating the $700 textbook fee and another $700 from tuition and other fees, so parents are actually paying less for the school. Plus, the iPad can be used for a ton of additional things. So this is actually pretty good.

[duvaldude08]

These kids are going to be blind as Bat by the time they are 20 years old. LOL

[RockStar]

These kids are going to be blind as Bat by the time they are 20 years old. LOL

Because of easy porn access? LoL!

[Overstreet]

My daughter teaches in the USAF. They have converted to tablets instead of text books and manuals. One of the benefits is that they can distribute revisions electronically. Much faster, accurate and they take up less space. They can write notes on the tablets with a stylist. They can turn in assignments through the pad. It is a good thing.

The side benefit is the kids won't be ruining their backs with heavy book bags.

We are moving tablets into the construction management world. Our punch lists will be done by I-pad. Pictures, notes, drawings, and checklists in the palm of your hand weighing less than a pound. By comparison the drawings on the Wolfson Tower weigh a hundred pounds.

More and more the management of our construction project is digitized. Many of the files that we once maintained in file cabinets are now stored in a server in another city. The same file cabinets I used to take form job to job and fill are now merely storage for supplies. 

Books will be digitized. You can adapt and ride the wave or be left behind.

[duvaldude08]

These kids are going to be blind as Bat by the time they are 20 years old. LOL

Because of easy porn access? LoL!

That too! LOL But I know just me working in front of computers since I was 16, my vision is very poor and Im only 30. I can not stand to look at screen for a long period of time and I need glasses badly. The technology is great, but it will have an unintended effect as well.

[danem]

These kids are going to be blind as Bat by the time they are 20 years old. LOL

Because of easy porn access? LoL!

That too! LOL But I know just me working in front of computers since I was 16, my vision is very poor and Im only 30. I can not stand to look at screen for a long period of time and I need glasses badly. The technology is great, but it will have an unintended effect as well.

I would like to see a color e-ink reader be developed for this very reason. This year, I chose the Kindle (NOT the Fire) as my book reader because to the eyes it is just like reading a book. No glowy screen messing up your eyes.

1) As mentioned above, it neuters the secondary book market, preventing students from buying and selling used copies of very, very expensive college textbooks.

This is a K-12 school, but do I see what you're saying. I would also add that current e-versions of college textbooks are just as expensive. The only savings is storage costs.

7) If it catches on and becomes widespread and permanent, it potentially gives Apple and unfair monopoly in schools, unless other tablets are included in the program.

If Android tablets are as reliable as my Android phone is, I would be OK with Android not being included. That said, the implementation of the program may not need be tied to a specific platform if the applications are developed for all platforms.

3) A physical textbook won't run out of battery and shut down in the middle of class. The software won't crash. If it falls off your desk, it won't shatter into a million pieces.

8 ) What happens if a student breaks his iPad and it either a) needs to be sent in for repairs, or b) his parents can't afford to buy him a new one at that moment in time. Does his learning just screech to a hault until his gadget is fixed?

For this reason, I would be okay with kids' school work being largely independent of technology for the first few years. Technology is great, but going through the learning process not being dependent on it is a wonderful thing. Teach technology, but start with pencils and paper and books.

[Demosthenes]

http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/21/an-ipad-in-every-childs-hands/

Apple Just Incentivized Every College Kid To Get An iPad. As For High Schoolers…

"Except, they didn’t. Not yet."