Wish they done this when I was in school!

[Auggie2k]

October 4th 2005 - US school gives up paper books

An Arizona school has dispensed entirely with textbooks and has spunked its entire book budget on student laptops. Empire High School used to spend around $500 per head on text books. Instead, it spent roughly $800 a pop on Apple iBooks. Mercifully, it still has some books lying around, as Vail School district chief superintendent, Calvin Baker, explains: "There are no text books other than a couple on the shelf for teachers to use as resource. We still have a library - we are not anti-books. We have a library and we encourage students to use it, but the primary delivery of instruction materials is being done through the laptops."

Baker continues: "Every class is a little bit different. Some classes are relying primarily on a service, where you need a password to get to it. Some classes' teachers are using electronic text books as a resource - not as a primary tool but as a resource and then a lot of our classes are relying very heavily on simply free material that is available on the internet."

And here's the crunch: "When you are using or selecting a text book, it is an all or nothing package. The beauty of the internet is that it allows teachers for every unit to go out and pick the material that they believe is absolutely relevant for that particular topic," enthuses Baker.

Marvellous. Any downsides to the plan? Not according to Baker, who reckons that students will treat their kit with the utmost respect because they're allowed to keep their (legally obtained we have no doubt) music collections on the laptops: "That's a very valuable part of their life, and that is where their collection is, and so they take pretty good care of it just because it is something that is personally important to them."

Hmmm. What about the old "dog ate my laptop" ploy. No good, says Baker: "That's a hard one to use because everything is backed up continually on our server at school."

Fair enough; tech-savvy kids, surfing their way to educational redemption, yihaa! But what the hell is wrong with books, bits of paper and pencils? It's low-tech, it's cheaper and it's proven technology. Mind you, they've still got the library for when the server gets hacked by some ne'er-do-well looking to improve his grades the easy way, if the students can find their way there without consulting Google Maps.

In my opinion, its about bloody time somebody set the road. And aren't them books seriously expensive?

[Broccoli]

Kids' eyeballs are gonna hurt.


And don't even get me started on the cost of textbooks.

[The Hunter]

Hell all i had was a piece of granite, a hammer, and a chisel.

[shawners]

7th grade we had manual type writers for typing class. 9th grade came, we had macintosh computers in there with a printer network and typing programs. But computer class wasnt even til later and it was a waste to only teach typing when it could been intro to pc.

[bobhss]

Hell all i had was a piece of granite, a hammer, and a chisel.

I thought you were old Hunter, but not that old! :icon_tong

[The Hunter]

Honestly we had none of that stuff. I had a slide rule, but we were not allowed to use it during exams. Now I wish I could go back, and the fact that they would now know that Im dyslexic, and wasnt trying to be an ass when the work i did came out arse first.

[Broccoli]

My dad talks about having a slide rule when he was younger, and finally getting a calculator when he was in college doing some crazy calculus shit.

[The Hunter]

Tell your dad you were talking to a guy with dyslexia that tried to use a slide rule. He will just shake his head.

[Broccoli]

I think he's just un-diagnosed. Really. You should see some of the notes he leaves me sometimes.

[notbob]

books are a waste of money in american schools

nobody reads them anyway

[The Hunter]

I know thats true here in canada. dont even think about expecting someone to do math in their head. The wife bought a new cell phone the other day, and I told her what it would cost tax and all, and the clerk laughed at me. She gave me a funny look when she added it up, and was correct to the penny.

[Auggie2k]

Brand new cell phone: $250

Getting the better of the missus: Priceless!

[The Hunter]

The wife trusts me, the clerk isnt sure.

[black_magiic]

My back would be a lot less sore if I had a laptop. :-)

[Auggie2k]

Oh jasus yes your spot on the black magic! My back was always killing me! And another thing, what is with the amount, not to mention the size and weight of the books supposable needed?