Should Tablets Be Used In Schools Essay Example

Jimmy was super excited to get back to school, and he couldn’t wait to learn new things. He arrived in the first period, and he was given his Social Studies textbook. As soon as Jimmy opened the book, he found that dragons were drawn over all of the pages. Jimmy was furious. He walked up to his teacher to tell her, and she said that they had no more copies for him. Jimmy’s story is very much like a lot of students today. Textbooks are beginning to become an issue, and tablets are starting to come in. Tablets should replace textbooks all over the world because they are far better. Tablets increase school achievement, reduce injuries, and they cost less. 

First and foremost, students get better grades when they have tablets in their schools. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) concluded that tablets “increase [a] student[‘s] motivation to learn” (ProCon.org 1). Students will never become better if they don’t become interested in learning, and tablets make these children want to learn more. Tablets also do this by creating a more fun learning environment for students. Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt conducted a study in the Riverside Unified School District in California. The study was to see if students succeeded with tablet textbooks or traditional textbooks. The study showed that students using online textbooks “score twenty percent higher” on standardized tests (ProCon.org 2). Standardized tests are some of the most important tests during a school year, and tablets help kids prepare for these more than traditional textbooks do. According to a survey ran by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, “30% of e-content readers… spend more time reading” (ProCon.org 3). Reading is very vital to a child’s educational success because books have improved many students’ vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. These skills are very important to have a great academic career. The surveys don’t lie; textbooks on tablets improve academic performance. 

Furthermore, tablets are a whole lot safer than paper textbooks. Many medical problems are caused by carrying too much weight, but “a tablet only weighs 1-2 pounds” (ProCon.org 2). Carrying something lighter is definitely the better choice when it comes between a lightweight tablet and a big blocky textbook. Also, a person might think that they are strong enough to carry a textbook, but doctors say that students should “carry less than fifteen percent of their body weight” (ProCon.org 2). Based on this conclusion an average 150-pound adult male should only carry 22.5 pounds, but this weight is what some children carry around every day to school. All this weight can really harm students, and in the 2011-2012 school year, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission stated that “13,700 kids… were treated for backpack-related injures”. (ProCon.org 2). A couple of thousand kids is a lot, but over 13,000 injuries are unacceptable. However, if these students had a tablet, they would not have these issues. No learner would ever want to get hurt, and traditional books don’t solve this issue.

Finally, tablets in schools can save parents money. According to research done by the School Library Journal, an average price for a printed textbook can cost “$70 compared with the $45-$55” cost of a six-year subscription to a digital textbook (ProCon.org 2). The thirty-dollar difference might not seem like a lot, but that amount of money can give minimum wage parents the ability to buy more important objects for their families. These objects include payments like groceries, taxes, or even rent. Textbook and Tablet prices are still very close, but Vital Source found that there was “a 31% drop” in tablet prices in just two years (ProCon.org 2). This is a great example of showing how the prices of tablets are dropping rapidly and how the prices of textbooks going own at all. This huge drop can be specified by the tablet price dropping from “$489 in 2011 compared to $299 in 2018” (ProCon.org 2). However, the other side still states that textbooks cost less than tablets. Lee Wilson, a prominent education marketing expert, stated that tablets cost “$71.55 vs 14.26” for a printed textbook (ProCon.org 4). Though this may be true, Wilson didn’t state that tablets “can hold hundreds of textbooks” (ProCon.org 2). These hundreds of textbooks can be bought in the same subscription, which can save hundreds of dollars for parents and schools. The math has been done many times; tablets cost way less than traditional textbooks.

In conclusion, schools should get rid of paper textbooks and switch to an all-digital system. First, tablets make students smarter by improving studying and reading. Second, tablets reduce backpack-related injuries. Third, the new form of textbooks is more cost-effective than a traditional textbook. The pros of tablets definitely outweigh the pros of paper textbooks, and schools should not waste their time keeping these. The world is changing, and technology is growing. The earlier schools adjust to this change, the better the future will be. Bring tablets to schools today!