iPads Should Take Over Textbooks (if they haven’t already)


Tablets contain many technological features that cannot be found in print textbooks.Tablets give users the ability to highlight and edit text and write notes without ruining a textbook for the next user. Tablets have a search function, a back lighting option to read in low light, and a built-in dictionary. Interactive diagrams and videos increase student creativity, motivation, attentiveness, and engagement with classroom materials.
Print textbooks are heavy and cause injuries, while a tablet only weighs 1-2 pounds.Pediatricians and chiropractors recommend that students carry less than 15% of their body weight in a backpack, but the combined average weight of textbooks in History, Mathematics, Science, and Reading/Language Arts exceeds this percentage at nearly all grade levels from 1-12.
Tablets help students better prepare for a world immersed in technology. Students that learn technology skills early in life will be better prepared to pursue relevant careers later in life. The fastest growing and highest paying jobs globally are technology intensive. Employment in “computer and information systems” is expected to grow by 18% between 2010-20.
On a tablet, e-textbooks can be updated instantly to get new editions or information.Schools will not have to constantly purchase new hardware, software, or new physical copies of textbooks
Tablets lower the amount of paper teachers have to print for handouts and assignments, helping to save the environment and money. A school with 100 teachers uses on average 250,000 pieces of paper annually.With Earth already in shambles and losing so many of it’s useful materials and resources, we should be thinking of alternatives for everything natural around us.

Tablets allow teachers to better customize student learning. There are thousands of education and tutoring applications on tablets, so teachers can tailor student learning to an individual style/personality instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. There are more than 20,000 education apps available for the iPad alone.
Files on one tablet can be downloaded onto any other tablet, increasing flexibility and convenience for teachers and students. E-textbooks and other files can be stored on “cloud” servers and accessed on any equivalent device. Users can sign into an account on a different device and access all of their information.
