Written by: Chantal Marauta, 11
Books were once thought to be the most efficient and effective way of sharing knowledge. For years, textbooks accompanied teacher’s lessons as a student’s primary tool of education. However, in the age of digital innovations, even textbooks have become electronic and the need to carry around heavy textbooks for the whole school day has minimized significantly. One of the many pros of digital textbooks is that students run a lesser risk of developing scoliosis (having a hunched back), caused by carrying excessive weight from their backpacks. Furthermore, by not printing out millions of textbook pages, we manage to help the environment. As junior Dili Aeschlimann says, online textbooks are “great, because I hate carrying textbooks to school. [They] just take up way too much space and [are] extremely heavy… having to lug all of that from one class to another is just not appealing.” Rahul Agrawal, who is also a junior, is equally enthusiastic about online textbooks, commenting “I like them alot… but [it’s] too bad I only have them for two subjects.”
Nevertheless, there are drawbacks as well as advantages in the era of digital education. As some people find that they study better when they have a physical textbook in front of them. In attest to this, one student remarked, “sometimes, I need to trace what I read with my finger, and lightly underline key words with a pencil. If I tried doing that with my laptop, I would either break the pencil or my screen.” Similarly, teachers seem to understand both sides of the argument regarding online textbooks. Mr. Nourse, a High School Math teacher stated, digital textbooks “can be distracting, but they’re lighter to carry than actual textbooks, so they save your back but they hurt your eyes”.
As with all developments in this world, one man’s loss is another man’s gain. However, with technology such as the kindle, which eliminates the strain of backlight, we may be able to reap the best of both physical and digital worlds.
