The Benefits Of Tablets

What was your style of learning when you were in grade school? Was your brain linguistic? Mathematical? Imagine a time when you read a textbook and couldn’t retain information or muscle through the reading. Now imagine going back to your childhood with today’s technology where many K – 12 schools are migrating towards using tablets in the classroom rather than textbooks. Some folks argue that too much screen time isn’t good for children, but what about the benefits of using tablets in the classroom for learning? Tablets are a better classroom resource than textbooks because they provide quick access to a wealth of information, they also provide resource attainment for all levels and styles of learning, and they allow students to gain real world

It makes sense in a world where we have so many resources at our fingertips to utilize tablets in the classroom. One of children’s primary responsibilities growing up is to attend school and learn content to progress academically. Tablets can assist students in obtaining and learning information quicker, The Federal Communications Commission notes, “Technology-based instruction can reduce the time students take to reach a learning objective by 30-80%, according to the US Department of Education and studies by the National Training and Simulation Association. (Digital Textbook Playbook, 2012)” Relevant information is also pertinent, with technology based learning students can have updated information with quick automatic updates. New versions of texts are often immerging, leaving students with outdated materials. Students will have access to the most up to date materials and schools will not have to purchase and replace physical copies or updated software (Oblinger and Oblinger,

On the forefront, some folks feel tablet utilization is less cost savvy than using textbooks for class resources. Costs for tablets include the device itself, wireless internet access, and resources such as electronic textbooks also known as e-textbooks. Though initial startup costs for tablets in the class room are high, e-textbooks cost about 50-60 percent less than print textbooks (Adams, 2004). Another element folks regard as concerning are the distractions associated with tablets in considering the wide variety of resources students will have at their fingertips. Will children be attempting to play games, chat via instant messengers or browse non-course related websites? The answer is no as schools work diligently to ensure students are browsing and working electronically via secured networks with strict permissions and monitoring to certify students are focusing on their studies. With regard to learning styles and pace, folks feel concern that retention is missing from tablet based learning. Some children are not yet familiar with reading content electronically, the limited group that is working towards a new style of reading can temporarily print content and read hard copies until their able to adapt to electronic reading. The final argument folks may have is that is that tablets may be difficult for the less tech-savvy student to