Prep School Students Buy Own Tablet PCs for Classroom Work

By Ty Young, Phoenix Business Journal

12/28/07

New technology and a generation of computer-savvy students are changing the way education is delivered in the classroom. As a result, textbooks, one of the education system's largest expenses, are entering a new era.

At Brophy College Preparatory, a private Jesuit high school in Phoenix, half of the 1,200 students no longer use textbooks -- or paper, pen or pencils for that matter. Using a tablet PC and the school's wireless Internet, students download assignments in every class, upload tests to the teacher immediately after taking them and take notes with an electronic stylus that records writing as if it were on paper.

Following a 30-student, seven-teacher pilot study in 2006, nearly 700 students -- the entire freshman and sophomore classes -- and 80 teachers are using the system. Brophy freshman are required to purchase a $2,250 tablet PC. The school offers financial aid to those who qualify.

"It's an inevitability that you are going to need technology before heading off to college or into the work force," said Mike Nelson, Brophy vice president of technology and a fine arts instructor.

Doing away with textbooks has been a slow progression, however. The textbook industry has been a holdout as more educational text is placed online. The $6.5 billion-a-year industry tied itself to the growing educational system for decades, according to the National Association of College Stores.

Profits soared because of increased prices. Between 1986 and 2004, textbook prices increased about 186 percent, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Because many school administrations write their curriculums based on textbooks, teachers and students often have to purchase new editions every year.

"Oftentimes, the textbooks were more expensive than the actual courses," said Todd Simmons, Rio Salado Community College vice president for business and employee services.

Pearson Custom Publishing, a subsidiary of publishing giant Pearson plc in London, is taking the textbook industry in a new direction. The company recently struck a deal with Follett Higher Education Group, which manages bookstores for more than 780 colleges and universities, to allow instructors to customize textbooks for their classes.

Rio Salado, a Follett customer, is rolling out 48 customized textbooks in its biology, communications, English and history classes this spring. By fall 2009, the school expects to have 90 percent of its classes taught through customized textbooks.

Cutting out unnecessary information will save students about 50 percent for abridged textbooks, Simmons said.

Instructors are happy about the move, said Jennifer Freed, Rio Salado computer science and human anatomy teacher.

"You don't have to revise your classes every 18 months when the new edition comes out," she said. "But we are being very careful on how we design the textbooks because we don't want to cut out all of the information, even if it isn't brought up in class."

Changes in the industry, both at the publishing level and in the delivery method, will take time to adjust to, Nelson said. Publishers are guarded about their profits, and pushing texts online or in abbreviated levels cut into company profits.

"The biggest struggle we find is the digital resource model," he said. "Textbook companies need to get on board with digital methods, or schools moving this direction will find their own resources."

The learning curve has become steeper as well, especially with the speed of technology and the understanding of it by younger students.

Teaching instructors how to use tablet PCs was the hardest part of deploying Brophy's system, Nelson said.

English teacher Steve Smith was one of the early adopters of the technology. While he still has students write out portions of their tests and assignments, he said the new technology has improved the speed at which he grades and responds to students. Although it took him time to learn the technology, he said it has aided his instruction.

"The students take a test, they upload it and then get immediate feedback," he said.

Some Brophy parents have not been as happy, however.

Mike Snitz, whose son is a Brophy sophomore, worries the new technology will put an end to certain learning institutions.

"There are so many things I'm afraid of," he said. "Everything from sitting at a desk and working on homework, to using the library, to basic penmanship. It's kind of scary, really."

Resistance from parents is not uncommon, Nelson said. Some parents actually have purchased textbooks on their own.

The generation gap between students and parents pales in comparison to the technological divide between the two groups, Nelson said.

"We're at a generational gap where (parents) are used to physical textbooks and their kids are more used to using digital resources," he said.