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Follow Florida's Lead: Why More States Should Switch to Digital Textbooks in Schools NowFlorida again leads the way

http://www.good.is/post/follow-florida-s-lead-why-more-states-should-switch-to-digital-textbooks-in-schools-now/

It seems like digital textbooks have been the next big thing for years, but, with a few isolated exceptions, they haven't exactly been embraced by schools. That's about to change in Florida thanks to the gutsy passage of a law requiring all public schools in the state to make the switch to e-textbooks by the 2015-16 school year. Critics are a bit freaked out over this decision because education budgets are already tight and e-readers aren't free. But it's about time school districts make the move.

Admittedly, digital textbooks don't look like a great deal right now. On top of having to shell out a few hundred dollars for a Kindle, Nook, or iPad, you then have to pay for the digital textbooks themselves, and they're generally only about $10 cheaper than their hardback counterparts. That's because the bulk of publisher's production costs come from paying researchers and writers, not printing.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't begin the transition. Florida districts have four years to figure this out, and the price of e-readers will drop even more during that time. After all, the devices are already half as expensive as they were just a couple of years ago. Even if the price of e-readers doesn't halve again, there are plenty of other ways districts will save megabucks by making the switch. And digital textbooks may get cheaper too if the format makes it easier for editions to be updated year after year.

Furthermore, e-readers wouldn't only be used for textbooks. Classic books, which are mainstays of middle and high school English classes, often have expired copyrights and are therefore part of the public domain. They can be downloaded for free. Instead of schools having to buy new class sets of The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird year after year, each new group of students can simply download a copy without spending a dime....


Before long all students will be going to "virtual schools".