The authors state:
But the debate misses a more important question: Why are we still using ink-on-paper textbooks, when digital technology offers a much better way?
Today, Johnny opens his math textbook and reads a chapter. He understands parts of it, but not all. He does the 10-question homework on paper and hands it in. Later, he gets the homework back and sees that he answered seven questions correctly.
Envision this: Johnny pulls up a math chapter on his e-reader.Well I began to think just where were they going. Children today walk about like turtles with their backpacks loaded with tons of heavy grade paper filled with tons of pictures. I am glad I am old because I remember my books from High School, they had thin paper and few if any pictures. You did not need pictures for Latin or Greek, or even French. I still have my third year French book, it is about 3/4 inch thick and about 8" by 5" with a sturdy red cloth cover. I could carry all my books in one hand. In fat I really only needed my Latin book for translations, you had to have the Aeneid in front of you when called upon. I never had a book bag ever!
Thus when speaking of books, perhaps the problem is the publishers and their extortionary fees. You could place the questions on something called paper, you know that stuff you use to print out the stuff you download so you can walk around and memorize the stuff you need to regurgitate on the multiple choice exam!
The former FCC folks then say:
Replacing textbooks with e-readers would create a platform that lets students learn as much as they can, as fast as they can. The teacher is freed from drudgery, such as correcting homework, and given the tools to teach more effectively. Parents and school officials get data that help them guide the educational experience
So I guess the student looks at the computer, oops I mean e-reader, and then works thru the questions, answers them, gets immediate feedback, and then the teacher gets the result. Folks, how do we know the student really did this. I remember my third grade, doing all those pages in work books were a waste, I got the principle, so next. But I caught on that Mrs. Hill would walk down the aisle and see if you had put answers on each page, she never checked beyond the first page if it wall ass correct. So, solution, get the first page correct, then just fill in the rest with whatever! Made it thru the third grade doing one tenth the work. The trick worked at MIT as well. In fact MIT required you learn such tricks to get thru. The lesson Folks is that the teacher is supposed to see if YOU did the work. Or at least some of it. Your computer scheme is useless on that front. Mom, Dad, sister Jane, they could have done it.
The FCC Folks keep going:
Equipment such as the iPad and technological developments such as 4G wireless and massive computing power mean that the technology needed for such a platform is available today, at costs cheaper than providing material that Gutenberg could have produced.
For the sake of our children, and for the competitiveness of the nation, America ought to be aggressively developing a new category of educational content, delivered using high-speed Internet access.
Why in God's name do you need 4G! Ever heard of pencil and paper. It really works well. What are you trying to do...
You see I like books, I have 10,000 now and am proud of it. I have read most of them even. Just love the little critters. I also have disk drives filled with electronic stuff, love that sometimes even more so, I can index it and search it. My life could never see a world without Google Desktop! Where would I be without Desktop helping me find the right files.
But do I need 4G for arithmetic, geometry, calculus. No, in fact when I see my grad student using MATLAB I just shake my head. You see we in the old days without MATLAB had to obtain a feel for the solutions. We had to look at the boundary conditions and see if the solution made physical sense. No one cared about the elegant solution as much as the physical insight. MATLAB may very well have taken it away, as it seems to with the current generation of PhDs. Paper and pencil, back of the envelope, and not 4G were essential!
The Folks just did not stop with text books, they got into health care, I guess it helps to cover the bases:
And it's not just education. Broadband networks can create ecosystems for health care, such as through remote, in-home monitoring, that can improve patient well-being while lowering costs. In public safety, emergency alerts delivered through mobile devices can be far more targeted and effective than many current practices are in providing critical information in a disaster.
We commented on the EHR multiple times but the problem with patient care is not solved by electronics. Despite what economists are wont to say, via speculation most likely consistent with the profession, Type 2 Diabetes is most often caused by obesity, obesity by eating too much. Thus having an iPad and 4G will not push your fat belly away from the Big Mac! On the other hand perhaps we can monitor your every consumption of calories and report it to the food police.
Aside from these comments, let me reiterate. Books are good, they are friends, and they complement the electronic media and do not replace it. The school issue is a canard. Those big fat books do not belong there in the first place! In fact one would suspect that almost all course could be taught with paper handouts, and yes some computer reference material, and a few paper back books. You could reduce the book costs by orders of magnitude and improve the orthopedic health of the students!
But an iPad and 4G, the Folks from the FCC in my opinion do not have a clue.
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