Leander High School's online student-run newspaper

The Roar

Leander High School's online student-run newspaper

The Roar

Leander High School's online student-run newspaper

The Roar

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Isabel Serna
Isabel Serna
Photojournalist

The Future of Education: Tablets vs.Textbooks

The transition from textbooks to tablets is taking place in some schools. As tablets are becoming more popular, the idea of replacing print textbooks with tablets with digital textbooks is also becoming more popular.

Tablets should eventually replace textbooks for many reasons.

Tablets offer a wide range of possibilities. They can hold and download files, which is convenient for students and teachers. They allow students to do things that they couldn’t do in a print textbook such as making notes or highlighting text. They can save time, allowing students to quickly looking up a link.

Some people believe that tablets would be a distraction to students, but according to a study conducted by Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, tablets help to improve student achievement. In California’s Riverside Unified School District, Harcourt tested an interactive, digital version of an Algebra 1 textbook for Apple’s iPad. The students who used the iPad version scored 20 percent higher on standardized tests than those who learned with print textbooks.

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While some people complain that tablets cost too much, they will save money in the end. The U.S., according to the Federal Communications Commission, spends about $7 billion per year on textbooks, many of which are seven to ten years out of date.

Tablets are the ideal technology tool. E-textbooks can be updated instantly on a tablet. It is simple and convenient for students to download new editions or information. Instantly getting the updates would allow students to learn more accurate information.

Tablets help students better prepare for a world immersed in technology. Preparing students for the future requires new approaches to teaching that involve technologies, as they are becoming a part of students’ everyday lives.

When it comes down to print textbooks vs. tablets, there are many more benefits to tablets than textbooks. They help students learn more material faster, hold hundreds of files, and they cost on average 50 to 60 percent less than print textbooks.

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About the Contributor
Valerie Garner
Valerie Garner, Staff Writer
Valerie Garner, known to her peers as Val, is a senior staff member on The Roar. That’s not all she does. Val is also the editor of LHS’s yearbook, The Lair. She has been a Leander Lion for entire high school career. After high school Val hopes to find herself in the city of College Station at Texas A&M. She wants to study communications there. When Val is not focusing her time on school, she is devoted to serving at her church. She is involved in her youth group, mentoring middle school students, and singing as well. Val enjoys playing the ukulele in her free time. She likes to eat Yaki Soba, a Japanese dish consisting of fried noodles. Her favorite colors are pink and blue.