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Textbooks to go the way of the dinosaurs?

Although students and teachers alike have discovered various innovations and applications for computers over the past couple of decades, the advent of the tablet-style personal computer has very recently begun to revolutionize the market in a way that no other has done. Recent advances in lightweight, portable design, memory capacity, we could only dream of just a few short years ago, and ever-increasing networks of broadband Internet connectivity are combining to create a useful and convenient multi-purpose tool for students. Tablet sales have doubled in the past year- an explosion in popularity that even very optimistic projections for the product failed to predict.

While I don’t think anyone expects tablets to completely replace desktop or laptop computers (although a recent Nielsen survey did find that over 75% of respondents were now using their tablet for tasks that they once performed on their desktop or laptop computer), their versatility is truly astounding. One huge advantage of the tablet is that it doesn’t just replace an entire backpack full of textbooks, but also provides multimedia enhanced continuously-updated content that textbook authors could never even imagine. Whereas paper textbooks may direct student’s attention to further information and examples on the Internet, digital textbooks can provide videos and music to support any area of study at just the tap of a finger. For many students who do not learn effectively by simple reading text, this multimedia support provides a more integrated learning experience, which has been shown to improve retention and lead to positive learning outcomes.

Students may also use a tablet, as opposed to a laptop, for taking notes during lectures. Tablets provide the benefits of portability, instant startup and longer battery life so students don’t have to carry a power cord around and position themselves near an outlet. Students can also pull out their tablets and work on a project at anytime, anywhere on campus. And with cloud- based memory systems, students don’t have to bother with back-ups or flash drives if they want to continue work on their desktop computer or collaborate on a group project.

A further benefit of tablets, though one that is often cited as a shortcoming among users, is the limited ability to multitask. Now, it is true that developers have introduced thousands of applications to run on tablets, but tablets still simply cannot run many programs simultaneously. This may appear, on the surface, to pose a problem for the student user. However, in reality, students can perform any number of tasks on tablets…just not all of them at the same time. This may actually be good for a generation which is easily distracted by social media, online games, and other miscellaneous content on the Web.

Given the many benefits, it’s no wonder that tablets are beginning to make their way into classrooms. In fact, it would seem that the biggest factor working against this has simply been their limited availability. Given the long times of consumers who waited to get their hands on the first generation of tablets and the lag for other companies to get their tablets to market, many people are just now able to buy a tablet. Additionally, we should expect that as competition increases among developers, tablets should see the same steep price drops that we always witness among electronics. Thus, tablets should quickly become a very viable and economical alternative for savvy students.

 

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