Cutting-Edge Curricula Killing the Textbook
Throw away those old, heavy textbooks, kids. But don't get too excited. There will still be plenty of studying, just in a less back-breaking way. With many school systems crunched for money, there's a move toward digital learning in the classroom.According to The New York Times, classrooms may be devoid of traditional textbooks within the next five years. As previously reported, California is already digitizing curriculum, but educators in other states are championing the array of tools the Web has to offer, as well. Dr. Sheryl R. Abshire, chief technology officer for the Calcasieu Parish school system in Lake Charles, LA, told the Times that modern students think in less concrete ways than their forebears, so they need more fluid learning tools in the classroom. "They don't engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote," she says. However, the move toward digital learning isn't without naysayers. Some argue that it could widen the already large educational gap between the rich and poor since not all students have access to the Internet at home.
The best compromise might be digital 'flexbooks.' The CK-12 Foundation recently developed some of these gadgets, which can be customized to meet state standards, for review by California school systems. Founder Neeru Khosla told the Times that these open-source materials, which can be downloaded to a disc, printed, or used online, make more sense than even digital textbooks because "they can be anything you want." As much as we enjoyed uncovering past students' doodlings (the best in middle school humor), we must admit the passing of the tome-like textbooks will lead to healthier backs everywhere. [From: The New York Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gary said 7:39AM on 8-14-2009
Ppamala, what are you smoking? What does that have to do with digital textbooks? Give us all a break.
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tjstieg said 11:18AM on 8-14-2009
The content of textbooks is dependebt upon who writes them just as the internet is dependent on who writes for them and what biases they have. Everyone assumes that what they read on line is the truth. Of course that isn't always so. Primary source verification is necessary to assure as best as possible the veracity of the text whether in book form or on the internet.
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Matt said 3:35PM on 10-07-2009
I love how the new certitude that "modern students...don't engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote" so often gets used with a straight face and apparently without any expectation that it can be challenged. What does "don't" mean? "are not given a chance to?" And we're hearing a technology professional (surprise!) express the usual techie gripe against printed books in an unsupported assertion that the brain of the human species has changed recently. Excuse me while I go cough up a hairball. I'm reading above that kids "think in less concrete ways than their forebears." Really? What does "less concretely" mean? I have a 4 year old who thinks in ways I would describe as concretely and also in ways I would describe as "abstractly", but I don't believe her thinking processes are any different from what mine were at that age. It's an idiotic argument based on unfounded assumptions. Or are we saying simply that kids have to handle more simultaneous inputs of information these days? That's certainly true, but is the resultant inability to focus and to learn from what you call "finite" sources something we simply throw more addictive tools at? I think it makes more sense to asky why everyone suddenly has ADHD and return to a focus on the cognitive tools of learning, which teach kids how to teach themselves, instead of on the hardware and software tools, which teach kids how to look up information on a computer.
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