Published Sunday, February 07, 2010

Proposed law would allow electronic textbooks

The Newnan Times-Herald

Local school systems could buy electronic readers rather than textbooks under a bill that passed the Georgia Senate on Tuesday, and Coweta County parents and educators think that's not such a bad idea.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Cecil Staton, would still have to pass the state House of Representatives and get the governor's signature to take effect. Then the state Board of Education would have to sign off on the change to give local school boards the option of buying Kindles, iPads and other next-generation devices in lieu of bound books.

Some local parents are hopeful the bill will pass.

"I personally think textbooks are someday going to be a thing of the past," said Rhonda Carroll of Sharpsburg. "They are re-written so often and have to be replaced with newer, more expensive versions.

"I think there will be a user fee for the access to the online version of the book and we'll all be better off," she said. "Laptops are getting smaller and lighter these days, too. The world is changing, like it or not!"

Under the bill, all of a student's books could be loaded into one device, which could be used for years, the Associated Press reported. There was some concern Tuesday how the change would affect poorer systems, but Staton, R-Macon, said the goal is to give local school boards flexibility when it comes to spending state education dollars.

"I have two teens," Staton said. "I know how kids learn today. It's not the way I learned."

A similar but broader bill has been filed in the House, the AP reported, and it will probably be passed out of committee this week, said Brooks Coleman, chairman of the House Education Committee. Coleman, R-Duluth, said he likes the idea of allowing local school boards to decide what to buy instead of sticking to state mandates.

"The bill is good, because it allows local boards and school systems to make the decision on how and when to move toward that kind of technology," said Dean Jackson, spokesman for the Coweta County School System.

"That won't happen right away, because textbook funding isn't there right now for anyone and because the technology hasn't fully matured. But it's going to be really fascinating to see how quickly it does happen in the coming years."

Jackson said the state right now sets and funds the purchase of traditional textbooks on a seven-year basis.

"It represents a huge, but necessary, annual cost for the state and for school systems," Jackson said.

"The issues will come down to cost and efficiency, the reliability of the technology, and the business models that textbook publishers adopt for providing electronic content," he said.

"Not all of that is in place right now for a school system to move wholly and reliably to electronic media in a cost-efficient way."

But as people grow more accustomed to Kindles and iPads, and as those technologies mature, Jackson said, "it would seem to be natural for schools to move to this kind of platform for textbooks."

School systems will need to first be sure that they can thoroughly and reliably replace textbook content with those systems, he said, as well as "do it as a savings to the local system."

The technologies will have to be "durable and reliable enough to really benefit students and parents and teachers," he said.

"It's not something we could or would do today in Coweta, but it's a decision that we'll be able to make locally when it makes sense," Jackson said.

Kathy Sproull, a teacher in North Georgia, said the new bill is a "great idea," but she can't see it working well on smart phones such as an iphone.

"Not on phones, unless someone can figure out a way to keep students from switching to Facebook or texting each other or whatever else they might also be doing," said Sproull, who teaches high school history.

"I hate to see print materials decline, because I love the feel of a book," said Sproull. "But I also hate to see students lugging around bookbags I can barely lift myself."

Patricia Smith Fulford, a former East Coweta administrator who has gone back to the classroom, said, "As a teacher, I'd love it, since my students don't bother to bring their textbooks, but they all have their phones and ipods."

Andy Musick of the West Georgia Educational Technology Center (ETC), which operates out of Grantville, said that the law, if passed, "will enable schools to adapt to the ever-changing face of technology in education."

He said it was exciting to see students embracing their personal technology at the recent West Georgia Technology Fair.

"The technology is advancing rapidly as more players are entering the eReader market," he said.

There are several options when looking at the current devices available, ranging in price and functionality, he said.

"The more basic devices look very much like a book page offering Internet connectivity to download ebooks," said Musick. "Some public libraries have been offering for some time ebook checkout, which gives you the ability to check out a book to read on your device and expiring on a certain date."

The new Apple iPad just entered the game, he pointed out, "but with much more functionality than just an ebook."

The iPad "brings color and video to the device but with a heftier price tag," he said.

There are now even eReader apps for a variety of handheld smart devices, he said, and "it will be interesting to see these companies scramble to position themselves with their feature set, pricing and -- of course -- product durability.

"More work is being done with the textbook companies and the product makers for increased compatibility and availability of content," Musick said. "I don't believe we are there yet for full-fledged adoption, but this is where the future of our school textbooks lies, and the law would position Georgia schools so they may choose when and how to go down that path."

Recent East Coweta High School graduate Aaron Heidman, who just plunked down hundreds of dollars for his winter semester textbooks at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, says the change can't come soon enough.

"I would love to have all my textbooks in a Kindle or Nook," said Heidman. "I bet it's cheaper, too."