Yesterday, I linked to the following article (thank you, A.):

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California's students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hfHxHQeOOEBGeR3_JC0Hnl_DeWyAD98O2OF00

Do you agree with his decision to use more online learning materials to gradually phase out traditional printed textbooks in schools?

To me this is a generational question and I would like to see how many dinosaurs vs. modernists we have in this discussion group.

As usual, all sorts of nuanced answers are possible (Yes, but; No, but; It depends; Yes, but not everywhere and not always; No, but yes in 7.5 years, etc.) so feel free to articulate them in your replies, especially in relation to your own (grand)children, if you have any. Has the time come?

Our previous poll, run three years ago, had a different slant. The majority replied then "When I have to read online, I tend to scan and skim" (Post #90252) 

The question three years later, is:

Should we eliminate textbooks from schools today?

Note the idea "starting today."  If you are for the digital in science but against it in humanities and you believe that the emphasis should be on the former, that would be the prevailing trend I am interested in. If you want to reply "Yes, but," please check "Yes." If you want to reply "No, but," please check "No." The article I linked to has some further background.

I know that this poll is unscientific, cannot prove anything, should have 97 detailed options because life is not black and white, and you simply cannot answer this question because it makes no sense whatsoever.

That's precisely why I am running this poll, as all the others before: Say it. :)

I haven't voted yet - have to think about it a little more.

I lean towards a yes, though, and that despite my love of books. For pleasure, I would not read a book online. A textbook --- I don't know --- you don't have to like the idea to see that it makes some sense.

When my now ten-year-old grandson was six, he knew the basics of how to use a computer. I was 36 before I set eyes on one: an unwieldy thing with two noisy floppy drives and keyboard commands. I had a dot matrix printer that printed text so full of tiny "holes" that it hurt your eyes to read it. Four years later, I attached a S L O W modem to my second computer - I had mail!

Today, I would not be without a computer. I get ALL my news via the Internet. I've followed the Iranian election just as I followed the EU Parliamentary election and the last US election.

I attended the University of Southern Denmark via daily online briefs and pre-tests, and I also received notice via email, two years later, that I had earned my Specialised Language Diploma.

Classes were once a month, on a Saturday. Graded tests were as in the old under-graduate days - at the University.

Most, through not all, of the teaching material had been collected from online sources and printed out. Some of the material was scanned so badly that it was unreadable. Or smudged. So, while collected from online sources it was still printed out and read that way.

However, that was back in 2001, and I assume things have improved since then.

Would my grandson mind using online textbooks? Probably not. Would his father, who is a teacher, like the idea of spending less on textbooks? Probably. Would he be happy with all the extra work of finding and collecting and, I assume, scanning and printing? Probably not.

Nanna

What about if there is no electricity for 2 days and your battery went down; what about if there is no electricity at all; what about wanting to study in the park and forget about the whole civilization thing; what about if somebody likes books, the smell of them? This is limitting personal freedom of choice. It is in fact one of the stupidest ideas I have recently heard.

Have you noticed, Liliana, how, when we really want to do or achieve something and it is important to us or the people we love, we always make sure to have our ducks in a row?

I think when we decide to do our best that is when the proverbial 'the dog ate my homework' excuse has no power to stop us.

Nanna

Yes, Nanna. But are computers also good for your eyes and your health? Why should people be exposed to computers all the time and be at their mercy? It is also fun to study from a book, sometimes.

Well, the first sentence in the article that was quoted about textbooks being "so yesterday" was rather silly and barely thought out.  Further down we read:

The governor recently launched an initiative to see if the state's 6 million public school students can use more online learning materials, perhaps saving millions of dollars a year in textbook purchases.

A state or province will have a set amount of knowledge that all students are to acquire at each grade.  This is planned out in curriculum guidelines.  Textbooks are one way of ensuring that the specified knowledge is gathered in one place in an organized manner, and presented intelligently.  The weakness of textbooks is that the presentation is made in one unchanging manner which may not be suitable for the best teaching, or every kind of student everywhere.

But what they are discussing here does not seem to involve learnings needs - it's a move to save money.

Textbooks are a basic teaching tool.  The same textbook could probably be presented on-line from a central place like a school board or individual school or classroom, to be downloaded and used by all students (assuming they have computer access).  They can be made interactive.  A teacher could have a web-site for student access (many do) and provide links to supplemental material.  The teaching potential is vast and it's barely exploited.

That's the kind of place my mind would go in this topic.

Maxi

I`d say the question was answered, kinda, before it was asked... Post #177914

I have thought about the matter and want to mention that I voted 'yes', which is a yes, but...

Nanna

What about studying on trains, studying while holding onto the railing with one hand, studying in bed, studying on the beach, at the movies, in a circus. I remember I had once to learn all the rivers in Europe and I wanted to go to a circus when I was about 8, so I had to study while watching the lions. Mr. Schwartznegger's policy would have prevented that and I would not know which rivers flow through Europe.   

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on June 13, 2009 7:46 PM What about studying on trains, studying while holding onto the railing with one hand, studying in bed, studying on the beach, at the movies, in a circus. ...

KINDLE

Amazon Kindle and Kindle 2

The Kindle 2
Type	E-book reader
Release date	1st generation: November 19, 2007 2nd generation: February 9, 2009
Operating system	Linux-2.6.10
Power	3.7 V, 1530 mAh lithium polymer, BA1001 model
CPU	Freescale 532 MHz, ARM-11
Storage capacity	256 MB (original) or 2 GB (Kindle 2) internal flash memory (70% user-accessible)
Display	6 in diagonal, 3.6 (W) × 4.8 in (H), 600 × 800 pixels or 0.48 megapixels, 167 ppi density, 16-level grayscale electronic paper
Input	USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector), SD card (original model only), 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack built-in speaker, AC power adapter jack
Connectivity	Amazon Whispernet using EVDO/CDMA AnyDATA wireless modem
Dimensions	8.0 × 5.3 × 0.36 in (203 x 135 x 9.14 mm)
Weight	289 g (10.2 oz)