Tablets are Changing the Face of Education

1383 Words3 Pages

With the dawn of the tablet industry comes a game-changing device for the world of education. The features packed into sleek electronic slates provide an amazing experience that eases the learning process for students and the teaching process for teachers and professors. They provide the perfect reboot for the yellowing textbooks in supply closets. Electronic tablet devices are a much more useful tool for today’s education system than the textbooks of old.
Compared to textbooks, tablets are a much more cost efficient solution for the purpose they would serve. Digital books on tablet devices cost considerably less than print textbooks, mainly because the cost to print the textbooks would be factored into the price tag of the print version, while, on the other hand, being absent from the price of the digital books. For example, Discovery Education offers lessons on various devices including iPads and other tablets “branded ‘Techbooks’” (“Schools Shift”). These lessons are significantly cheaper than traditional print material. The lessons “run between $38 and $55 per student for a six-year subscription. The average traditional textbook is $70 per student” (“Schools Shift”). These cost savings would become very noticeable if the tablets are used over just a few years.
Tablets themselves, because of their increase in sales, are expected to decrease in price, which allows schools to take further advantage of the devices without spending more on netbooks or laptops for every student. Gartner’s U.S. global IT forecasts show that “as sales of tablets increase, the average price of the devices in 2015 will be about half of what it [was in 2011]” (Thibodeau). Gartner made certain predictions about the growth of the tablet industry, and thu...

... middle of paper ...

...Textbooks Cool on Campus.” USAToday.com. USAToday.com, 17 June 2011. Web. 30 May 2014.
“Digital Textbooks May Save Schools $250 Per Student Per Year.” Electronista. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2014.
Handwerk, Brian. “iPads Improve Classroom Learning, Study Finds.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 May 2014.
Klindt, Rob. “Should Tablets Replace Textbooks in the Classroom?” Online Education Degrees. N.p., 5 June 2013. Web. 30 May 2014.
Morgan Stanley Research Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Equipment Team. Tablet Demand and Disruption: Mobile Users Come of Age. N.p., n.d. PDF file. 30 May 2014.
“Schools Shift from Textbooks to Tablets.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 May 2014.
Thibodeau, Patrick. “Tablet Sales to Soar as Prices Drop Through 2015, Says Gartner.” Computer World. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2014.

Open Document