With the tremendous advancements in technology over the past few years, printed textbooks provide an inferior means of learning in the classroom setting.

You might be asking yourself, “How could this be? How can students learn without countless textbooks comprising thousands of pages of paper?” The answer is simple: e-books.

An e-book reader, such as the Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook, can store hundreds of digital books in one sleek and simple device. All of the information contained in numerous textbooks can be contained in a single Kindle. I believe schools should begin to implement e-textbooks and discontinue the use of printed textbooks.

For one thing, e-textbooks are simply more convenient than their printed counterparts. Imagine yourself as a middle school student with homework in five classes on any given day. It is quite possible that your backpack will weigh almost as much as you do.

Now imagine the tedious process of lugging this hulking bag onto the bus, off of the bus, and all the way from the bus stop to your home. Clearly, this is not a fun situation. Now imagine replacing all of those bulky textbooks with an e-book reader weighing a few ounces. Which would you prefer?

Furthermore, e-textbooks pose none of the detrimental environmental effects associated with printed textbooks. The production of printed textbooks has resulted in the destruction of trees. Not only that, but this process also creates harmful byproducts and is not necessarily an energy-efficient process.

With the recent emphasis on the “green revolution,” people are embracing any possible method of conservation. E-textbooks provide just that. They are efficient and have essentially no effect on Mother Earth. They can be used repeatedly for countless years; whereas, printed textbooks have a relatively short lifespan and often become obsolete within a matter of years.

E-textbooks serve as a positive alternative to their printed counterparts because they provide students with enriching tools and features that would otherwise be unavailable. For one, students can highlight important passages within the pages of e-textbooks. Additionally, notes can be made and saved directly on the e-book, as opposed to being made in separate notebooks. Both of these features are prohibited in printed textbooks.

These attributes tremendously expedite the studying process, allowing students to focus on the most important information as they are reviewing the material. Moreover, e-books possess a unique searching feature in which the user searches a keyword or key phrase and all pages containing this word or phrase are displayed, no glossary necessary. Never again will students spend precious time perusing countless pages in search of an important fact.

I feel that e-textbooks provide numerous, significant benefits. School systems across the country should take advantage of this new technology, as I believe printed textbooks soon will become an archaic remnant of the past.

Article Courtesy of: http://www.nwitimes.com

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