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Schools

Digital Textbooks in Lindbergh Schools?

Lindbergh leaders see electronic textbooks as the future of local classrooms.

Lindbergh school board members recently got a glimpse into what some herald as the future of a mostly paperless classroom.

Staff with the Lindbergh Interactive Classroom (LINC) program demonstrated the latest digital textbooks available from technology company Apple Inc. on Tuesday during the board’s meeting at the district’s Early Childhood Education Center. The digital books are an application available on the company’s iPads.

Lindbergh Superintendent Jim Simpson likened the digital textbooks to the introduction of electronic mail years ago.

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“I was a principal when I stood in front of a group of teachers and said ‘There’s a new thing called email.’ This feels just like that,” Simpson told board members.

LINC trainer Colin Davitt said the difference from the new digital textbooks and previous generations was the level of interaction between students and the study material.

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“We are giving students a different level of understanding,” Davitt said. For example, the application featured videos and interactive features.

The application allows students to highlight text, define words, add notes and make study cards as well.

Fellow LINC instructor Angie Moehlmann said the application was even helpful in Algebra courses, which prove to be challenging to some students.

“This is going to meet students where they are (in their education), like a personal tutor,” Moehlmann said. “It takes what is very static in a traditional textbook and makes it dynamic.”

The cost of the digital textbooks is $15 per year for individuals, though, the iPad operating system costs at least $330. School districts are not currently able to purchase the textbooks in bulk.

Simpson said multiple companies are “racing as fast as possible” to produce electronic textbooks because of the product’s potential.

“Within a few years, there won’t be textbooks weighing six, seven pounds and costing $150. No one will produce them because it will too costly,” Simpson said. “This is a milestone for the school district with the board’s first look at these digital books.”

The district has long-term plans to introduce digital textbooks through a small pilot program to gauge its benefits, Simpson said.

Simpson added he believed most teachers were already incorporating similar technology into their learning plans and “teachers are going to love this a lot.”

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