Time for Tablets

Imagine the world with no modern day technology… less educated, not up to date on historic events, current events, and no experience what so ever. Now, think of what it’s like in our world today. All of us, constantly using tons and tons of different sources of technology; including textbooks being replaced with tablets in schools worldwide including our K-12 schools. While it may seem to some that tablets are a distraction and a reliable cheating source for students, it is actually true that tablets are increasing the interactivity and creativity in students. As a student in all honors and AP classes, tablets have been the most reliable resource for me to finish my work and succeed in every course I am taking.


One cannot disregard that these devices make it easy for students to cheat, but keep in mind that it’s just as easy to eliminate this problem to prevent it from happening. The real question is, why do teachers let them cheat? Teacher supervision in the classroom while issuing iPads to do worksheets or activities, is a good tip to keep in mind. On the contrary, many say that tablets are a huge distraction to a student’s mind. Daniel Goleman, a psychologist agrees with logic and says, “The real message is because attention is under siege more than it has ever been in human history, we have more distractions than ever before, we have to be more focused on cultivating the skills of attention”.

The real problem is not the “distraction” caused by using ipads, but rather the child’s ability focus on it’s own. Ben Johnson, director and educator at Emory University exclaims, “Students with iPads have just as much access to knowledge as the teacher, and maybe more. Their perspectives do not have to be limited by a myopic and narrow textbook viewpoint, or a rigid standardized test framework”. In other words, the bland old textbooks are what is keeping students from concentrating on what they are reading. Tablets are proven to help capture the attention of a student, along with expanding what they are learning by the tablet coming up with many different kinds of results and information found on the internet.


When tablets are involved, research shows that students are increasingly engaging students to interact and show creativity in their work. “The percentage of K-12 classrooms with Internet access has increased from 51% in 1998 to 98% in 2012 and 40% of elementary school teachers use computers during class instruction.” (Procon.org, “Should Textbooks replace Textbooks in K-12 schools?”) This is to show how much support tablets have received from parents and teachers. Experts say, “Computers can help students learn at their own pace, based on what they know rather than on whatever class they are in.” This is useful to children of all ages, so that they can catch up and learn at their own pace, just incase there is something they don’t understand and needs more work on. Cabrini College Loquitor says, “81 percent of K-12 teachers believe that tablets enrich classroom education”. Nevertheless, tablets will help K-12 schools be productive and concentrate when it comes to math, science, or even English.


Certainly, interactivity cannot simply be the only positive. The effect of using tablets will also save the environment by lowering the amount of printing. According to Google, the average school spends between $30,000 and $50,000 a year on paper alone, which is equivalent to 74 trees a year per school, which is equivalent to 30 million trees throughout the world. Along with this, it takes 7 gallons of water to produce an average book, while an e-book publication can less than 2 cups of water. At the rate of using ipads and tablets, we can eliminate the destruction of trees and rapidly increase this problem. Plus, what’s the point of cutting down trees when we can simply do our classwork at the click of a button? Not only is it fast, it’s simple.


In conclusion, tablets should replace textbooks for the increasing stability of child learning and to save the environment. If the world comes together, we can demolish the old-looking up-textbook, and use tablets to encourage students of all ages to build their creativity and knowledge. Doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, huh? Consider this… if you had to make a vote in favor or against my debate, what would you choose? Not only do tablets build and expand knowledge beyond what a textbook can do, but they will make teaching less of a burden when it comes to hard work days and busy schedules.