A New Page in the Digital Age?

Kindle, a digital textbook, may be the next thing students have in their lockers. On August 25th, U.S. News and World Report announced that the Democratic Leadership Council wants to give students a Kindles, portable hardware devices, instead of print textbooks. If executed the pilot program would involve 400,000 students and could be implemented nationwide if it is deemed a success.

Kindles will let students wirelessly download and read digital textbooks. Instead of carrying many textbooks, students will be able to carry a Kindle with all of their E-textbooks on it. However, the books do not offer any videos or interactive tools that may help the Teacher Community. Another problem is that many schools use textbooks that are not available electronically. This means teachers may have to adjust to using an entirely new textbook series, which may not be as great as their previous textbook.

However, many schools are already using digital versions of their textbooks. Students at some high schools can register for online classes and read E-textbooks. Elementary school students can even view video demonstrations of science experiments and take complete math lessons on school computers. If you are a teacher in a school using these new programs, Applebatch.com (a free online community dedicated to helping educators stay connected and share resources with other K-12 teaching professionals) wants to hear about your experience. Please take advantage of our free Teacher Network site to talk with fellow teachers from across the nation and share your thoughts.