Going Digital

Gutenberg’s invention has served us well for nearly six centuries. Now with an abundance of digital readers, has the time to say goodbye to the printed word arrived? At this point, it’s not a question of “if”, it’s a question of “when”.

During a recent address before the National Press Club, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for printed textbooks to be replaced by digital learning materials. Soon “You can not bring a phone to class” will be replaced by “Don’t forget to bring your iPad to class.”

At this time, however, the software environment is not fully ready for the total integration of tablets into the classroom; not all the challenges and potential pitfalls have been addressed. Although many schools have begun the switch to the iPads, the experience was not without some drawbacks. Perhaps in the coming months and years more solutions that look at the compete digital classroom experience will come to market. The future of the classroom indeed looks quite interesting.