Are We Really Ready to Go Book-less??

This may seem to be too ambitious a project for the Philippine government to undertake but an online article recently disclosed that the Philippine government is now trying to develop a low-cost tablet computer to be utilized by children in schools. The program envisions a day when children will no longer be lugging around heavy schoolbooks but instead be armed with a multi-purpose tablet computer to facilitate their learning.

According to DOST Secretary Mario Montejo, the tablet computer will cost around 3,000 PhP (70 USD). “This is education in the future: no more heavy textbooks for our hapless school kids. Basically, we really should replace the books,” he told reporters. The proposed project is also geared to making Filipinos more competitive in science and technology.

Montejo, however, clarified that in order to make the technology cheaper and more accessible, the device would have to do away with many features common to that of other similar devices. He warns that, “Every additional feature will add to the cost”.

This begs the question, however, “Are we really ready to go book-less?” I, for one, share the belief of many that while the promise of tablet computers sure can provide students convenience and lessen the hassle of dragging along their schoolbooks, I highly doubt that we can completely do away with schoolbooks especially in this day and age where we have gotten used to learning by reading or studying out of books which are more tangible and fully within anyone’s reach. That and the perennial problem of surging costs and the issue that resorting to this technology will only necessitate the development of further technology or device to help sustain the former which may all the more prove to be costly for the government to bear in the long run.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1j0pPP4kpKDi4JwUvpz3lGrBPRA
Image courtesy of : http://syedsoutsidethebox.blogspot.com/2010/07/examinations-versus-upsr-pmr.html