There is one place that students can go to have all their questions answered. Everyone has access to it, it doesn’t take up any physical space, and is free.
It’s called Google.
The Internet is the single, comprehensive source that students can search for the information contained in all of their textbooks. With technology at the tips of our fingers everyday, whether it is a computer, cell phone, iPad, or a combination of the three, it seems inefficient and outdated for classes to continue to use hard-copy textbooks.
Not to mention, textbooks have a negative effect on our environment as well. This year I have six textbooks with a total of 3,793 pages. Multiply that by even just one class (approximately 27 students) and that is already 102,411 sheets of paper. If all classes at Staples switched to using online textbooks, we would save millions of sheets of paper and trees
Using online textbooks and resources would also make our information much more up to date. Although Staples is lucky enough to purchase new textbooks every few years, online we can have access to news almost as soon as it occurs. Not only would online resources us more timely information, but they would save significant expenses for the school.
With the time lag in current information in textbooks, as well as what textbooks cost our school and the environment, the books are no longer worth their weight. This year I’m required to carry textbooks for two classes back and forth to school every day. Two textbooks plus folders and notebooks adds up to 13.5 pounds on my back each day.
Carrying around two separate, hard cover books seems pointless to me when I could access the same information on my iPhone that weighs a fraction of a pound.
According to Staples Nurse Libby Russ, it is not advisable to carry more than 10 pounds on your back. “However, I know it can be hard for students to keep it under that weight,” Russ said.
In order to accommodate the maximum ten-pound suggestion, Russ said she believes there must be a more creative way to avoid using textbooks. “Electronic textbooks seem like a good idea, and being able to access them on your iPhones and iPads. Using an actual textbook seems so antiquated.”
Jonah Aelyon ’12 uses a doctor’s note each year to excuse him from carrying textbooks to school. “ I have really minor scoliosis but also since I’m tall I’m more prone to back problems when I’m older,” he said. “Even if you don’t have scoliosis you shouldn’t have to carry textbooks. Some people, if you look at the sheer size of them, couldn’t carry two thick textbooks everyday.”
The University of California in Riverside conducted a study with 3,500 students aged 11 to 15 at four middle schools surveying students’ back pain due to heavy backpacks. Almost 90% of students classified their back pain as “bad” or “very bad.”
Yet, in only 1.33 pounds, the iPad 2 can give students access to all the information in their textbooks, and more.
