yeah, i read or saw this on tv somewhere.. 60 minutes maybe? one of those late night news channels?
but yeah, rewriting history. what's the famous quote? history is recorded by the winners? texas must be winning.
and yes, a lot of the rest of the country follows their lead (or at least buys textbooks from them).
in other textbook news, was in the paper yesterday that clearwater HS is replacing all their textbooks with Kindles.
pasta:
By STEPHEN THOMPSON
[email protected]
Published: June 3, 2010
CLEARWATER - Cassandra Sigh and her brother are transferring from Seminole High to Clearwater High this fall because her family has moved. But the siblings will be getting more than a new school.
Each will receive an e-reader, and on it the textbooks for their English and math classes. If all goes as planned, the textbooks for their other classes will be downloaded onto the handheld devices in ensuing years.
"I don't have to worry about carrying millions of books in my backpack," said Sigh, 14.
In what in all likelihood is a first for a secondary school in the United States, Clearwater High is planning to give e-readers to all 2,100 students.
Other high schools in Pinellas County are waiting to see whether, among other things, students take responsibility for the devices, said John Just, assistant superintendent of management information systems for Pinellas schools.
So far, the school system has allocated $600,000 over six years to buy the devices for Clearwater High, and is negotiating with Amazon Kindle, Just said.
Just said the district is trying to cut the best deal it can, and wants a price lower than the standard $250-a-unit offered in bulk. The district also wants technical support and a longer-than-average warranty.
As with textbooks, students will have to pay for a new e-reader if they damage or lose it, but there is talk of offering insurance policies to parents to protect them if either occurs.
As with virtually everything that has made the transition from print to digital, it is cheaper to provide something on a high-tech screen than on paper. For example, Just said, a geometry book typically costs $74, but its e-version costs $64. Some e-versions of literary classics are free if the books are old enough.
"It's going to save so much money and it's going to save trees," said Linda Smith, a social studies teacher at Clearwater High who is one of about 100 teachers already to have received Kindles.
The decision to acquire the e-readers was made by Clearwater High School Principal Keith Mastorides, after the school district adopted a decentralization philosophy that allows principals to make choices individually for their campuses.
Mastorides said he had heard repeatedly from staff, parents and students that the school needed to increase its use of technology. There was talk of issuing a laptop computer to each student, but that option was considered too expensive.
Aside from containing textbooks, the students' e-readers also will offer Internet access.
Ideally, students also will be able to access homework assignments, attendance records and grades in real time, Mastorides said.
What they won't be able to do is download material, Just said.
Mastorides said he was encouraged by the district to tackle his e-reader program on a smaller scale, by giving them only to a group of students rather than all, but he didn't want to create an environment of haves and have-nots.
Sigh isn't the only student excited about the change.
"Some people get really frustrated ... you know, the heavy textbooks and carrying them through the hallways," said Mohamed Baydoun, 17, who will be a senior next year, but an e-reader is "really small and light to carry," he said.
Baydoun said that if students don't feel like reading the e-reader, they can activate a feature that prompts the device to read aloud.
"They're always going to be with you and you're always going to be in charge of it," Baydoun said. "There won't be any problem with like losing it or damaging it because it's like going to be your own Kindle."
.. you know, heavy textbooks.