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| Izayah Powell, left and DeVante Reid set up their digital devices during freshman orientation at Archbishop Stepinac High School Photo: Matthew Brown/The Journal News |
USA Today
Nicholas Dadario weighed his backpack last year when it was filled with textbooks for his high school freshman honors classes at Archbishop Stepinac High School.
It weighed 35 pounds.
That backpack is going to be much lighter this year. Stepinac in White Plains has become one of the first high schools in the country to drop all textbooks like dead weight and replace them with a “digital library.” When students started classes Monday, they were zipping to an app or website on their tablet or laptop and had instant access to all 40 texts in the Stepinac curriculum, not to mention all sorts of note-taking, highlighting and interactive features.
“It’s not only lighter, but you’re mobile,” said Dadario, 15. “You can bring your computer to your friend’s house, wherever, and you’re all set.”
In the past, students’ families had to spend up to $700 a year on textbooks. This year — after the one-time purchase of a tablet or laptop — families have to pay $150 for access to the digital library.
Using the digital library is almost as easy as cracking open a new book (as long as your Internet connection is on). A student can almost instantly tap into a global studies digital book and open an interactive map of Egypt or a speech by President John F. Kennedy about the Cuban Missile Crisis or a PBS documentary about Iran’s disputed presidential election of 2009.
“Students can search for what they want, just like with Google, so now we can teach them to interpret and analyze the information,” said Matthew Hogan, social studies chairperson.
A teacher can show a page from a digital book on an interactive whiteboard at the front of the class or send students a link to a particular math problem, with the teacher’s notes added in.
Nicholas Dadario weighed his backpack last year when it was filled with textbooks for his high school freshman honors classes at Archbishop Stepinac High School.
It weighed 35 pounds.
That backpack is going to be much lighter this year. Stepinac in White Plains has become one of the first high schools in the country to drop all textbooks like dead weight and replace them with a “digital library.” When students started classes Monday, they were zipping to an app or website on their tablet or laptop and had instant access to all 40 texts in the Stepinac curriculum, not to mention all sorts of note-taking, highlighting and interactive features.
“It’s not only lighter, but you’re mobile,” said Dadario, 15. “You can bring your computer to your friend’s house, wherever, and you’re all set.”
In the past, students’ families had to spend up to $700 a year on textbooks. This year — after the one-time purchase of a tablet or laptop — families have to pay $150 for access to the digital library.
Using the digital library is almost as easy as cracking open a new book (as long as your Internet connection is on). A student can almost instantly tap into a global studies digital book and open an interactive map of Egypt or a speech by President John F. Kennedy about the Cuban Missile Crisis or a PBS documentary about Iran’s disputed presidential election of 2009.
“Students can search for what they want, just like with Google, so now we can teach them to interpret and analyze the information,” said Matthew Hogan, social studies chairperson.
A teacher can show a page from a digital book on an interactive whiteboard at the front of the class or send students a link to a particular math problem, with the teacher’s notes added in.
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