As a kid, I would love the week preceding the school reopening, when you buy all new books for the new term. I can speak for most of you when I say that there is something magical about the way new textbooks smell. Well, those things might soon be history, at least in Australia.
Schools in Australia could soon be moving towards the introduction of e-textbooks, which would mean the students would only be carrying ebook readers that will contain the chapters from all subjects in an ebook format. While the idea definitely sounds exciting from a student’s perspective – no more heavy bags, and possibly also lower expenditure on new books; it also raises other concerns.
A trial done at a Melbourne High School raised problems like slower data loading, slower page turning and very few titles that were available for free. But the bigger problem comes from copyright issues. ”Digital rights management restrictions at the point of sale have been developed for individuals on personal computers with credit cards, but publishers have not yet envisaged libraries as part of the mode or thought of building a lending system,” Ms Wilma Kurvink, Wesley College’s head of library who trialled with 18 e-readers said.
Irrespective of these hindrances and objections by traditionalists, it would be interesting to see if the Australian Government does give the go ahead for such an ambitious project towards the future.
This is one innovation that is very much required here in India. It will be of immense help to all school going children irrespective of age. Children struggling everyday with their ‘enormous’ schoolbags, which resembles the rucksacks that mountaineers & trekkers use, can finally be rid of this burden.
This might be interesting to see digital textbook but I wonder if they would ever be able to replace the conventional textbooks. Speaking for myself, I have 2000 collections of digital novels, but I still prefer to buy the hard copies !!!!