Students & Teachers Talk Tablets

Electronic tablets are viewed by many educators as a new method for encouraging students to interact with each other, be creative with their learning, and prepare themselves for lives immersed in technology. Additionally, the devices can hold hundreds of digital textbooks. Yet there are still advantages to traditional printed books.

Tanja Brosche, a math teacher at West Ranch High School, told JSR, “One of the benefits of the online books is that they are accessible. I have a lot of athletes in my class going to different places and e-books allow them to conveniently use the textbook without having to carry big calculus textbooks.”

Students also seemed to enjoy freedom from having to carry textbooks.

In an interview with JSR, West Ranch junior Joan Kim, said, “I prefer e-books because I can easily access them from everywhere I go. I travel often and e-books help reduce amount of items I carry.”

Teacher and librarian Laura Erickson told JSR, “Because I work at high school and my mission is to support the curriculum on campus, I try to help students learn how to do the research using both e-books and printed books, so that they can be successful when they leave high school and go to college.”

The rapid growth of technology has changed the way people live and has allowed them to expand their knowledge.

“We are watching our world change in front of us.” said Erickson. “Development of technology is really important in our lives but we really need to understand how we will use it.”

Yet Erickson believes that printed books are still useful.

“I don’t think either one is better than the other,” she said. “Each one has its own place.”