Should tablets replace textbooks in high schools?

Pros	Cons
1. Tablets help students learn material faster. Technology-based instruction can reduce the time students take to reach a learning objective	1. Handheld technological devices including tablets are associated with a range of health problems. Handhelds contribute to Computer Vision Syndrome, which causes eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, and dry eyes.
2. Tablets enrich classroom education and increase students’ motivation to learn.	2. Tablets have too many distractions for classroom use. Students may pay attention to apps, email, games, and websites instead of their teachers. Teachers believe that today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans. Four-fifths of students aged 8 – 18 multitask while using digital media.
3. Tablets can hold hundreds of textbooks on one device, plus homework, quizzes, and other files. It means they eliminate the need for physical storage of books and classroom materials.	3. Using tablets is more expensive than using print textbooks. Implementing tablets in high schools requires purchasing hardware (the tablet) and software (the textbooks), building new Wi-Fi infrastructure, and training teachers and administrators how to use the technology.
4. Tablets help students better prepare for a world immersed in technology. Students that learn technology skills early in life will be better prepared to pursue relevant careers later in life. The fastest growing and highest paying jobs are technology intensive.	4. Manufacturing tablets is environmentally destructive and dangerous to human health. Adverse health impacts from making one e-reader are estimated to be 70 times greater than those from making a single book. Print books produce 100 times fewer greenhouse gases.
5. On a tablet, e-textbooks can be updated instantly to get new editions or information. Schools will not have to constantly purchase new hardware, software, or new physical copies of textbooks.	5. Print textbooks cannot crash, freeze, or get hacked. The average battery life of a tablet is 7. 26 hours, shorter than the length of a school day. Tablets constantly need charging, increasing electricity demands on schools and the need for new electrical outlets.

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