“May I carry your laptop?” could replace “May I carry your books?” as the flirtation of choice this fall in Fairfax County if the school board goes ahead Monday night with a plan to purchase the district’s first all-online social studies textbook. The online texts would be used for nearly all social studies students in grades seven through 12, said Peter Noonan, the school district’s assistant superintendent for instructional services.
The board’s likely approval would signal a major shift in how Fairfax officials expect students to learn: Paper is out, computers are in.
“This is a cultural shift that we need to make,” Noonan said.
Students would be encouraged to bring laptops and other communication devices to school, he said. And while the shift comes with major challenges — like the possibility for theft, and the reality that many kids can’t afford new laptops — schools are working to address safety issues, provide laptops for checkout, and work with families to provide computers and online access.
A study by the district concluded that about 90 percent of students have broadband Internet access at home.
A six-year contract for the online texts — published by traditional textbook giants Pearson and Glencoe — will cost the district about $5.3 million. The cost will be covered by deducting $10 from the per-pupil allocation given to principals each year to pay for everything from teachers to computers to hardback textbooks.
The online texts appear much as a regular textbook would appear were it to be on a computer screen. But unlike paper texts, students can click on vocabulary words to see the definition. They can type notes or questions alongside important passages. They can pull up maps relevant to the material.
For the nearly 15 percent of Fairfax students who speak English as a second language, a microphone icon allows them to hear the text read aloud.
Don Knezek, chief executive officer of the International Society for Technology in Education, said that overcoming the divide between the technological haves and have-nots is one of the biggest issues facing school systems eager to adopt online texts.
“Figuring out how to create assistance programs for the underprivileged — the way there are free lunch programs now — those are things districts are exploring,” he said.
