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With everyone always having their hands on some kind of technological gadget, the idea of tablets taking the place of textbooks in schools makes sense to many people.
Although this could really benefit tablet manufacturers, students will not get the same effective learning experience and will easily get distracted by all of the power a single tablet holds.
Advocates of replacing textbooks with tablets often say digital textbooks are much cheaper than print textbooks. But according to tablets-textbooks.procon.org, the estimated annual price of a tablet for each student per class is $71.55 compared to $14.26 for a textbook.
Print textbooks cannot freeze, crash or get hacked. Tablets have to be fixed by a skilled technician if they break, which can end up costing more than the tablet’s worth. These devices also require expensive Wi-Fi networks, while textbooks need no connectivity. Many schools in the state already have poor Internet connection, especially when hundreds of students are trying to connect at the same time. This causes less work to get completed and more aggravation from students and teachers. Additionally, tablets are more prone to theft, since they have a higher value and can multitask – many things at once.
The average battery life of a tablet is 7.26 hours, which is close to the length of a school day. If tablets are used for researching, typing reports and so on during the same day, they can die more quickly, leaving a student with no assistance for the remainder of the day. Charging a tablet can take hours, and dead tablets can increase the number of excuses a kid can use to get out of doing work. Simply saying “I can’t find my charger” or “I forgot my charger at home” can allow students to put off their work.
People tend to read digital text 20-30 percent more slowly than regular print. This means that kids work more slowly with technology and it can decrease the amount of work that gets done.
According to the American Optometric Association, handheld devices can cause Computer Vision Syndrome, which can potentially give its victims eyestrain, migraines, dry eyes and blurry vision. Mobile device users oftentimes have a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, which include carpal tunnel, neck pain (sometimes referred to as “text neck”), shoulder pain and fibromyalgia.
Not every school can afford tablets either, which can spark a “digital divide” between the richer and poorer school districts. In fact, rural West Virginia has a digital split of its own. Up to 48 percent of residents in rural areas of the state do not have broadband service access that meets the benchmark standards of the FCC.
Although tablets seem like they are all just fun and games, the costs of repair, Wi-Fi and so on can build up over time and cause even more problems. It appears that all signs point to keeping our textbooks, at least for now anyway.