Drop the Paper Weight
Have you looked at a student trying to carry their backpack home lately? Some of our children are walking home with backpacks as large as they are, while others drag small-wheeled suitcases behind them. Either way, children are dragging home hundreds dollars worth of textbooks to say nothing of the weight.Is there a technology out there to help this age-old problem?
Last Christmas Amazon.com unveiled the Kindle. Like you, I read about it, listened to the news reports and wished I had 400 bucks burning a hole in my wallet. Six months later, the Kindle has dropped to $359.00 so I could buy it and a couple books if I only had 400 bucks I didn’t need for gas! Stay with me as I really do have a point.
A few months back my boss sent me an email with a link to an article that discussed a bill which would allow traditional textbooks to be replaced with a digital version. The money normally allocated toward textbooks would be used to purchase computers. I read the article and responded to the email with a link to the Kindle and a statement that the device could be considered as a mobile textbook platform once the textbook companies get on board. What I meant to say is when the textbook companies figure out they would be better off working with technology rather than fighting it.
Think about it… we send our students home each day with more money in textbooks than the Kindle cost and we are stuck with these books for five to ten years. That is great if you are studying something that never changes like the number of planets in our solar system or the fact that Yugoslavia is the country east of Italy. <Smile> If we were to use the Kindle, our students could access the most up-to-date material about a given topic. Textbook publishers could sell their digital textbooks based on a subscription model which would allow them a steady flow of revenue and school districts could use the millions of dollars spent on aging text books on other educational enhancements. Yes, some of those enhancements would include refreshing technology tools at the end of their life span.
I also had this conversation with another friend I used to work with. He told me it wasn’t a bad idea but it would be better if the Kindle had more computer type functions. I thought about this for a moment but retreated back to my initial opinion. Having been heavily involved in several laptop deployments, I am acutely aware of the technical issues with deploying wireless laptops in a school environment, as well as the requirements for professional development to fully utilize the computer. Beyond those issues, they are still expensive. Oh and they are bit heavy, fragile, and have you purchased a replacement battery?
Two days ago, I tripped over the article Digital college textbooks which discusses how Princeton University will begin publishing Kindle-edition textbooks. The article goes on to state Yale, Oxford and the University of California are also planning to use the Kindle. I would imagine like the iPod and iTunes University, the Kindle will also be a success and in time, we will see the Kindle make its way into our K-12 classrooms.
Of course, after reading that article, I sent the link to several of my colleagues. A few hours later, I received a link to the article Textbook Piracy Grows Online, Prompting a Counterattack from Publishers. I found this article reminiscent of the many RIAA articles I have read over the past several years. What strikes me is these companies seem to be putting more resources into fighting these digital copies rather than working to embrace the concept of digital copies of their books. While there will always be those individuals who will cheat the system regardless of cost, I believe the majority of people are honest and would rather pay for an affordable legal copy of the textbook required for their class.
Where will we be five years from now? I am not 100% sure, but I am willing to wager an electronic reader, (possibly the Kindle), and digital textbooks will be part of that world.
