Online Resources vs. Traditional textbooks
As years have been passing by, technology is becoming more advanced and essential in our daily lives. The world cannot subsist without it these days, as technology is used in every aspect whether it is in the medical field, schools, or simply in our basic duties. Currently, the world is becoming more modern because of technology, to the extent that it is debated whether or not it should be provided to students at school at a young age. This will result in use of online resources, programs, and devices as a substitute for traditional textbooks and printed educational resources. Online resources are known to educate students resourcefully and skillfully while still making education enjoyable and teachable. However, although online resources can benefit students, it is established that these online resources are costly, distracting for students, and can lead to health issues such as eyestrain and headaches. These key factors indicate that students should continue with the traditional educational way of learning with textbooks, rather than to follow in the footsteps of today’s modern world.
Textbooks in schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12 are an $8 billion business with major textbook companies such as McGraw Hill and Nelson. However tablets and other devices are a $72 billion business (Digital Book World, 2012), which would result in a better profit for the economy. In an interview with Jocelyn Krebs, a Professor in Biology said that she “think[s] publishing in general is facing a financial crisis because of the transition from physical books to e-books” (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2011). Although this may be the case, using devices such as tablets is more expensive than using textbooks. Executing the technological services of online resources will result in hiring administrators and instructors to aid schools to use the resources. Also, new updates that need to be installed in each device as well as repairs in case of any damages will contribute to the budget of schools. According to Lee Wilson, a marketing expert approximated that the cost per year for a student with online resources is $71 compared to $14 of traditional textbooks (Wilson, 2012). This could cause a downfall in the economy since every school would like to be up to date technologically.
In addition to expenses, a further reason why online resources should not replace textbooks is because they will most likely result in distraction among students. Students may go on websites that are not for educational purposes while the teacher is absent from viewing these devices. This way, students will multitask while doing class work which results in a short attention span from these learners. It is expected that students will use time in class inefficiently causing them to procrastinate in assignments, projects, and other class assessments. Teachers agree with this fact, as 67% of middle and high school teachers state that with today’s online resources, they “do more to distract students than to help them academically” (Purcell, 2012). Having unlimited amount of resources online has endless possibilities of research for a student. Too much information can be overwhelming, as a great number of websites, articles, and blogs are available for school. By providing students with textbooks, or library books instead of online resources, they will be limited to enough information for their grade curriculum instead of being inundated with momentous yet unnecessary facts. As well as being distracted, students will also be indolent when it comes to homework and in class assignments since answers can usually be searched up on devices. Students will decrease their analytical skills since online resources will discourage them to think on their own because of their dependency on online resources. As a result, these online resources will not greatly benefit students academically. It is known that heavy textbooks