Why textbooks may or may not work in our schools....

When I began to remember the implements given to me as a child to benefit my school work, textbooks seem to be the best form of knowledge given to all of us students. The hard copy books not only were loaded with the basic information needed to format a classroom study, there were loaded with many drawings and charts that deemed necessary for the visual learning skills we also needed to adapt to. The textbooks were not always exciting to read, but they allowed each student to be able to use the book to research questions for homework and classwork instruction, tie in dialogue with pictures, diagrams and graphs, and the textbooks allowed parents to continue to be an education model for their sons or daughters.

Although I approved of the use of textbooks as a child, I must remember that the new technological age gives us much more avenues to research information above and beyond what a textbook may allow us. We no longer live in a basic information world. School districts understand that digital information is more comprehensive and useful to students nationwide. I don’t believe schools should just omit textbooks completely, without some structure our schools would just teach chaos. But I believe textbooks are a learning tool. Whether the textbook is a hard copy or a digital book, they are used to help implement a curriculum that has been laid out by the state board according to what each grade is qualified to learn.

Sometimes the frustration lies within the text provided in textbooks because they simply give too much background knowledge. The text becomes too challenging, even for the "best" readers. Other students may have no problem with the text and should be given the opportunity to use technology to explore more on their own. In the end, what is important is to get students to thinking about, and apply, what they are learning.  

According to an article in the Washington Post (Mathews, 2012), textbooks can help students learn what is necessary to learn as long as they are a part of a curriculum designed by educators who know what works in the classrooms and what is an expected level of achievements according to the state. To an extent, I agree with this comment, but in our new technological world, we need to have the ability to gain access to the digital world and integrate more computer-based programs.

Our districts and our educators have adopted a system that seems to work for the classrooms. By adopting the common core standards for math and English, there is hope that the textbook companies will update the text so that the implementation of hard copy books and digital books are more beneficial in the classrooms. Welcome to the new digital-age-world…It’s best to just jump in with both feet forward!

 

References

Mathews, J. (2012, February 25). Why textbooks don't work and hurt schools. The Washington Post.